XO, Shanti, Paper Mache, Smile Smile @ Ruby Room 11.24.08

This post is starting with a story of seemingly random coincidence and the power of music, friendship, and touring.

About 4 years ago, a friend drove down from OC to see a band at The Casbah and I met up with him there. Somehow he got the wrong date and the band he meant to see wasn't even playing that night. We decided to make the best of it and watch these bands that were on tour with Transit War. This young band, Parksideview, from Atlanta, took the stage and totally rocked it with amazing tunes and lots of energy. They were too young to hang at the Casbah so they spent the night outside by the vans, my friend and I decided to keep them company and we ended up having rad conversations with Jake and Jeff Turner, two brothers in the band. After that night, I followed them online, witnessed the break-up of Parksideview, and the brothers formation of XO. Just as they were finishing their first XO EP, they announced that they were moving to NY to play in the band Say Anything. Well, they have been playing with Say Anything for the past 2 1/2 years, while also keeping their original project, XO, going. I have seen them play with Say Anything countless times and every time they are still the same awesome guys who we hung out with on the corner at the Casbah. It is so amazing how you can connect with someone and create a friendship with someone who lives miles away, but you get to see and hang with every time they tour through. So awesome.

So all of that leads up to XO going on an acoustic tour, where they landed at the Ruby Room last night. When I arrived, Smile Smile was starting and they are a duo that create beautiful harmonies and very rich, warm tones to nestle into. Very nice band.


I had checked out all the bands on myspace, and Paper Mache had pretty heavy electric sound, so I was wondering how it would go over as acoustic. Honestly, it was awesome. The lead singer was belting out these really emotional lines and I thought they sounded way better than the electric versions online. Best quote of the night was "This stuff is way better than those street drugs" when referring to his mixture of sore throat spray and beer, he had gotten sick on the road and had his CVS bought medicines on stage.


Closing out the night was the combo of XO (actually, just Jeff this time) and Shanti backing each other up and trading songs. They complimented each other really well, Shanti has great control of her voice ranging from a beautiful whisper to the most powerful crescendos that were out of this world, and Jake has a really honest voice that makes every song of friendship and love feel like a great diary entry. They played an especially good Death Cab cover and took a request from the crowd, it was a very beautiful and personal show.

Say Anything, Eli “Paperboy” Reed & The True Loves, Manchester Orchestra, Weatherbox @ House of Blues, 4.13.08

Fortunately I got my act together on Sunday afternoon and checked the House of Blues site. I was on the list for Manchester Orchestra who were playing with Say Anything, Eli "Paperboy" Read and The True Loves and Weatherbox. It was 6:45 and the site said the doors were at 6, show at 7. Damn those all ages shows. I hopped in my car and was downtown by 7-ish, found some yellow zone parking, and made my way to HoB. The line at will call was longer than I'd ever seen- I think there was some promo because everyone seemed to be on Say Anything's guest list. I finally got my tickets, filled out my press form, and made my way into the venue.

I was a little disappointed, I have to say. I realize the rules have to be different when the show is 90% tweens, but this time they searched purses, turned people away with cameras, and between sets when I wanted to go to chill in the bar, they locked the doors from 6th Avenue, so you had to leave the venue, walk around the block, and enter the bar from the 5th Avenue side. I'm comfortable enough downtown, but my feeling is if House of Blues is going to send people down a kinda sketch area of C Street, they should be responsible for having security there making sure their patrons were safe and not harassed, especially when there were so many kids being redirected from 5th Avenue to 6th Avenue.

I got into the show a little late and Weatherbox was finishing up, but the guard let me take pics of them anyway. Then it was The True Loves, then Manchester Orchestra. I took a ton of pics, but since I was there for Manchester Orchestra, I'm gonna post those pics here, and you can read and see some of the other pics from the night after the jump.






Starting off with Weatherbox, since I was there for one song, I didn't really form an opinion about the band, other than I guess they sounded exactly what I had expected the bands to sound like for this young crowd. They were all over the stage and also had a bunch of guys from the other bands join them for the song, so they were in a frenzy onstage and it was clear that the bands all really enjoyed touring with one another.









After they finished, I had a beer in the upstairs bar, hung out with Chickrawker Lyn for a few, and waited for Dagart to meet me to get the other ticket until we heard Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves hit the stage.

I had no idea what to expect from them, but they were really fun. Kind of a throwback to motown or 50's early rock with heavy blues chords, and a bit of some James Brown hoots and hollers. There was a horn section and I liked how other than the singer, the band had the look of a bunch of skaters and didn't suit up like one would expect for their genre of music. They'd work well on a big party bill with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Lady Dottie and The Diamonds, and The Tighten-Ups.












Man, I got the best story about one of the sax players for this band, but you'll have to ask me in person if you wanna hear it. It's not quite something I want to be held responsible for publishing.

Anyway, another break between bands so I went back to the bar upstaris and had another quick Peroni then made my way back into the venue. I was once again impressed by Manchester Orchestra. Their set was a little more rock than the last time I saw them, but this setting and this crowd demanded it.






The band made their way through the majority of their release, I'm Like A Virgin Losing A Child, and while not too many in the crowd seemed familiar with the material, everyone seemed to enjoy it. There wasn't the obnoxious chatter that usually drowns opening bands at the House of Blues, and I guess that's because kids are better listeners when it comes to shows or something. Or maybe it's that they're not all liquored up.


I wasn't gonna comment on the hair, but it looked like Andy went to shave his head, then changed his mind. Kids these days.

There was a moment when between songs, when Andy chanted, "Satan, satan...satan satan, satan." Then followed with a "said dance!" and repeated the verse from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. The kids didn't seem to get it at all.



The band was awesome, and didn't disappoint me by closing up with "Where Have You Been?" the song that I've made everyone whose come to my house or been in my car in the last two months listen to a dozen times, and they did an interesting alternate ending that I'd like to hear recorded. I was happy.


I could've called it a night at that point, but I was hanging with Dagart and wanted to see what Say Anything was all about, because honestly I didn't know them at all, or didn't think I did.





I was the only one in the photo pit, but the kids were hanging over the railing and kids were coming flying in over my head. On top of that, it was hot as hell, and the room, despite probably the best A/C of any venue in town, was humid and sticky. And damn those red lights! Unfortunately that meant my camera just wouldn't focus and I had to dodge the four security guards catching the kids flying into the pit, so these were the best I could do.





I didn't recognize any of the songs until there was the "she touched herself" song, and for all the music snobbery that exists, and the high school weirdness of punks vs. emo or whatever is the trend these days, I guess I kinda got what these kids were relating to. Every song was a singalong. Every. single. song. And I realized that it wasn't that long ago that I was one of those kids, at Soma or Worldbeat or Chabalaba, singing along to every. single. song.

MySpace Tour: Say Anything, hellogoodbye at Soma, Nov. 17

The discussion about the ever changing landscape of music trudges along. Some people (namely the big record labels) bitch and moan. "Declining record sales are the fault of downloaders, blah blah blah." My feeling is you accept the changes and work them to your favor or you get lost in the dust. Maybe more musicians doing things in a DIY way can afford their rent in exchange for the execs only having 10 bedroom houses instead of 15 bedroom houses. wah. What I'm interested in are the innovators that say, yes, it's changing, but it can work for us. Fighting the web is like trying to stop an ocean wave with your hands. Not gonna happen. Obviously as a blogger, I have my share of opinions about all of it, but I stand up behind sites like MySpace, YouTube, vMix, mTraks, Veoh, Virb and the like in all that they do for levelling the playing field and opening up the musical landscape. There's room for everyone.

It is known that there is a MySpace record label, and now, MySpace is presenting their first national tour. Say Anything and hellogoodbye are headlining with various guests in each city of the tour. The tour will make it's way through San Diego on November 17, and I'll be there if Tom is there. Tickets go onsale Friday, Aug 31 at 1 pm. Click the link below for tickets.

Pre-Sale Tickets Available Exclusively for MySpace Members Beginning Aug. 31

(update: tickets are selling now;$20 each)

I wasn't gonna post the whole press release, but I kinda like all the corporate mumbo jumbo.

MySpace, America's most trafficked website, today announced the official launch of the ‘MySpace Music Tour,’ a new series of MySpace produced and branded concert events. The first MySpace Music Tour, presented by Extreme Style by VO5, will kick off Oct. 16 in Seattle, WA, and will be co-headlined by artists Hellogoodbye and Say Anything. Other bands will include MySpace Records artist, Polysics, and to-be-announced special guests. The Tour will include more than 30 shows across the United States throughout October and November 2007.
"MySpace has served as a platform for countless bands and musicians around the world to showcase and promote their music to millions of fans online," said Tom Anderson, president and co-founder of MySpace. "With the new MySpace Music Tour concert series we are able to bring people face-to-face with the bands and artists they’ve come to know and love on the site. The kick-off tour has an amazing line-up of bands and I know the MySpace community will be psyched to see them live.”

Presented by Extreme Style by VO5, the MySpace Music Tour will have a dedicated online community on MySpace, where fans can find all tour information and purchase tickets. The profile will also feature exclusive content, including band blogs from the road, photo galleries and exclusive offers and sweepstakes for MySpace users to win a chance to hang out backstage with the bands.

“Extreme Style by VO5 is all about individuality and self-expression, making MySpace a great partner and the MySpace Music Tour an ideal venue,” explained Rob Keen, Marketing Director for VO5. “Music and style are the main vehicles for self-expression, and we’re helping provide both with amazing music and styling stations for men and women to achieve their personal looks.”

Co-headliners Hellogoodbye and Say Anything have made their names as popular MySpace Music artists. Hellogoodbye's first full-length album, Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! was released in 2006 featuring the platinum single, "Here in your arms." Alternative rock band Say Anything will release its second album In Defense of the Genre, in October 2007. Japan’s Polysics are touring in support of their first album for MySpace Records, Polysics or Die: VISTA!!!, which comes out Oct. 9. Widely known for their hyper-kinetic live shows, Polysics perform new wave punk in Japanese, English and even their own space-language.

"Hellogoodbye are big fans of MySpace, and I don't want to brag or anything, but I am a pretty good blogger,” said Forrest Kline, lead singer and guitarist of Hellogoodbye. “MySpace has allowed me to develop my blogging skills and I am thrilled to be on the first ever MySpace tour and further refine those skills by posting post-show blogs."

“We are stoked as beans to be on the first MySpace tour with Hellogoodbye!! It’s going to rock!” said Max Bemis of Say Anything.

The MySpace Music Tour will kick off Oct. 16 in Seattle, WA and will wrap in Las Vegas Thanksgiving weekend. Pre-sale tickets will be available for purchase exclusively on MySpace for MySpace members only beginning Aug. 31. Ticket sales for the general public will begin on Sept. 6. Full details about the first ever MySpace Music Tour, including dates and tour stops, will be available on MySpace. The next concert tour in the ‘MySpace Music Tour’ series will take place in Spring 2008, with additional details to be announced in the coming months.

To date, MySpace has more than eight million bands using the site. MySpace music has allowed bands to share music and videos, announce tour dates and communicate with fans and others in the MySpace community, seamlessly integrating the web into shared online and offline experiences. MySpace Music has been the launch pad for exclusive, high-profile album releases from artists such as Gnarls Barkley, Panic! At the Disco, Lily Allen, Fall Out Boy, Timbaland, Modest Mouse, The Used, and many more. Exclusive album releases recently featured on MySpace include T-Pain (#1 Debut on Billboard), The Used (#5 Debut on Billboard), Timbaland (#2 Debut on Billboard), Modest Mouse (#1 Debut on Billboard), and The Shins (#2 Debut on Billboard).