Paul Banks X-Session and House of Blues with The Neighbourhood

Photo by Justin McKee, 91X

Last week San Diego was graced with the ultra-cool and charming stylings of Paul Banks, the notable baritone of Interpol who has also recorded under the name Julian Plenti. His latest effort, Banks, released in late October, though largely ignored by commercial radio, is getting plenty of critical praise and play on other outlets like Sirius and Slacker. Still, it is curious to me that Interpol could sell out such massive venues, but those same fans were hardly found at his show at the House of Blues. That was fine by me because the show was awesome and the normally overcrowded venue was comfortable and full of fans devoted to the energy of the show.

Earlier that same afternoon, Banks performed at the 91X Studios for an X-Session and it was pretty cool to be there to check it out. The three songs he performed, "Young Again", "Summertime Is Coming", and my favorite, "Over My Shoulder".



The show at the House of Blues was opened by The Neighbourhood out of Thousand Oaks. Their look defied their sound, and I enjoyed their performance. It was kinda one of those situations where I should've paid better attention to their set because there was one song I particularly loved, but it doesn't look like it's on their EP. You can check out their latest single below.



I had a photo pass for the night, but there was no photo pit, so I took just a few snapshots of the night. You can see more on my Facebook page here.

Paul Banks Setlist:

The Neighbourhood

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It was a totally fun day...thanks Robin Roth for the X-Session invite and to Mike Halloran for letting me hang out in the studio while I waited for my superhero boyfriend to pick me up.

It was pretty great, too, because the show ended early enough to make it to the Casbah for Hot Snakes and Night Marchers. Not too shabby for a Monday night, right?

More photos after the jump. Incidentally, Nate was there shooting, too, so I'm sure he'll be posting much better photos of the night sometime soon.

Interpol didn't flake

I just wanted to make a correction on a previous post. After the Independence Jam on Monday, the Interpol guys were supposed to dj and I said they were delayed. Halloran wanted me to point out that 3 of them did actually show up. One was sorta mobbed by people, so he didn't stay long, one was on the turntables, and the other was chilling in the Atari lounge playing pool. I didn't really notice any of them, but seeing as that was after midnight, I think my carriage was already a pumpkin, if you know what I mean. I did get this lovely picture of Halloran, however.



Thanks for the clarification, Hal.

While I'm at it, I thought it was worth noting that TK from Indie 103.1 was here for FM 94/9's show and has been talking about how great it was all week on-air. Of course, he's not gonna mention a competing radio station, but it's good to note that our little town is getting some shoutouts in LA.

Sunday Recap (pt.1): FM 94/9 Independence Jam at DeVore Stadium, Chula Vista: Interpol, Kings of Leon, Spoon, et al.

Sunday almost didn't happen for me. I was lazy, tired, and on my way to Chula Vista had to stop at three different gas stations before one had a working air/water machine to fill my tires. So frustrating. By the time I got to the venue around 5:30, I was even more tired and just generally grumpy. I got to will call and they couldn't locate my photo pass because apparently you have to say, "there's an envelope with my name on it", not "there's supposed to be a photo pass here for me." duh. I did finally make it through the gates, however, right as Mr. Tube and The Flying Objects started on the local stage. They finally had a stage big enough to hold everyone in the band. I always like watching Mr. Tube, and it was nice to see the local stage well attended throughout the day.



I'm not gonna do a full play by play of the day, but there was some cool stuff happening, lots of good people, and of course, the music was great.






Britt Daniels, Spoon, photo by Rosey

Spoon was the first mainstage band that I got to see. As I mentioned, it was very intimidating in the photo pit with so many photographers with monster cameras, so I was shy and only took a couple pictures of Britt and his boys, then set up my blanket back on the grass while I tried to get in a proper festival mood. It was a little surprising that Spoon only played two new songs, but the older stuff is so good, who could complain?


Britt Daniels, Spoon, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey



After Spoon, is was back up to the local stage for Grand Ole Party. They killed it. I talked to a couple people who'd never seen the band before who were amazed and couldn't believe they are "just" a local band. How much must we emphasize that San Diego has some good shit happenin??


Grand Ole Party, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Grand Ole Party, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey

While hanging out with Matt (Vinyl Radio), some girl approached us with VIP passes. Matt gave her some cash and a CD. I wasn't gonna buy one on principal, but when she said she'd give it to me for $10, how could I refuse? With beers costing $7 each, I'd easily make back my money with the comp beer in the tent, right? We headed back to the mainstage, and I went into the photo pit and did my thing for Kings of Leon. Another bonus of the VIP badge was access to the bathroom near the stage but closed off to the public. So glad I didn't have to suffer through using a port a potty.


Kings of Leon, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Kings of Leon, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Kings of Leon, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey

The crowd was loving Kings of Leon. After the 3 song photo limit, it was time to hit the free drinks in the VIP tent and watch the show from a distance.





Matt and I continued with the back and forth, catching all the local acts and mainstage acts. Spoon is by far my favorite performance of the day, though I was impressed by Kings of Leon and Interpol. Mostly, it was a beautiful day, a perfect venue, and a great place to spend the day with 6000 of your closest friends.


Scarlet Symphony, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Scarlet Symphony, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


Interpol, 6/10/07, photo by Rosey


After I got to hear Interpol call out my name ("Rosemary, Heaven restores you in life...") it was time for me to hit the road. I was parked in the dirt lot and didn't wanna get caught in traffic. I took Otay Lakes to Bonita Road and it was smooth sailing. Then part deux of my evening...Smoosh and the Pipettes at the Casbah.

Super shout out to Owen for the photo pass and Pyles for the awesome local stage, and to 94/9 in general for a super impressive festival.

How are things on the west coast?

Holy happy weekend!

I'm a little behind but posts to come shortly :)