Tuesday Recap: Ra Ra Riot & Modernstate at The Casbah

With the fear of getting sucked into shitty fall tv previews, I decided I needed to head out on Tuesday night. I was fortunate enough to catch modernstate a few months back when they played at Scolari's and I was impressed so I headed to the Casbah in hopes of catching them again. Though I arrived a little later than I'd hoped, I still had plenty of time to go because apparently, because of some miscommunication between bands and their booking agent, two of the bands listed on the bill (Kennedy & The Vacation) didn't show up. It was unfortunate because modernstate had already set up in the Atari Lounge and could've been on the main stage. No problem for Sam and Jesse, however, because their sound and equipment is very self contained. By the way, I keep saying "they" but Modernstate is the project of Sam and his recordings are his alone; Jesse just plays with him live on occasion and has his own solo project called gulls. Jesse will be with modernstate tonight in Tucson, but then Sam heads out on his own across the country.


Modernstate impressed once again. The music is experimental with lyrics that are at times political and other times philosophical (and at times, both) and the trumpet, guitar, keys and drums are played live and then amazingly looped to make it sound like there's a larger band making the accompanying sounds.



Unfortunately, I was beard shy once again, so I didn't take very good pictures while they played, but talking to the guys after, they let me take a pic of them and turned out to be really great guys. I know I need to get over the beard=band of horses=bastard association, but I guess I'm still a bit scarred.


After modernstate, Ra Ra Riot hit the mainstage. I never thought I would say I'd rather see a band at the Beauty Bar instead of the Casbah, but if Ra Ra Riot comes through town again, that is where they should play (and I told them so after the show). They have this great indie rock sound complete with electronic violin and electronic cello, occasional keys with the standard guitars and bass, but the guitar and drummer keep a very New Order dancey pop beat throughout.

Ra Ra Riot Setlist, Casbah, 9/25/07


The band is a 6 piece from Syracuse, New York and the crowd was thin, but I know I don't speak for myself by saying they were great. This was the band's first time to San Diego and they finished their tour here before they head to Europe for an opening spot with the Editors. They've also toured with Tokyo Police Club. The band looks relatively young, but they are all skilled musicians and seem to have already been through a lot as a band, including the tragic loss of their drummer this summer.












The band seemed a little crowded on the stage because they're all so high energy and they bounce all over the stage, and at times, into one another. "We're not usually like this," Wes told the crowd, "but it's the last night of our tour." They busted through their set and just as quick, their set was over. The band has 4 days to get back to Syracuse. "We're stocked on RedBull and we're gonna drive non stop for two days." Crazy, crazy kids.





It seemed like the bands liked San Diego and hopefully keep us in mind next tour around, when surely their buzz will be guarantee a larger audience.

After the bands finished and after the Casbah scooted everyone out, it was still pretty early. The modernstate guys were staying with a friend near Scolari's, so I suggested checking out the Pink Elephant. As I was leaving the Casbah, I saw they were jumping the engine of Ra Ra Riot's van, so hopefully those guys got on the road safely and don't encounter any problems in their marathon drive across the country. They showed up at the Pink Elephant shortly after me and it was fun hanging out to close out the night. The pink elephant parade came on and signaled the end of the night so we said our goodbyes and I was on my way to reflect on another great evening in San Diego.

Thursday Newsy Bits

According to True To You, a Morrissey Zine, all tickets for Morrissey's forthcoming US tour will be onsale on 31st March.
*****
I love blogs. I love blogging. I love when I write about a band's performance, and then that band turns around and writes about the show. Case in point, a couple weeks ago I wrote a band called Modern State that played at Scolari's that I liked. A lot. Well, here's what Modern State has to say about that night:

march 13, san diego, california @ scolari’s office

still in the den of
evil that is all of southern califirnia, san diego has at least a few redeeming
qualities. notably, burritos and the many nice folks who live there. truly, what
separates many a shit-hole from another lies entirely in the mentality of a
place. whatever it is, i have experienced san diegans to be consistently good
folks over the years.

scowling behind the bar when we arrived, ritchie
(or the easier to remember t-bone, if you prefer) became a free-beer slingin’
superstar once he realized we were the out-of-towners on the bill. praise be. i
was a little worried about the show at first, no other bands having been asked
to play it at about 3 weeks to go, so i sent out some emails to the few san
diego rockers i know. and it worked out. big thanks to rafter and andrew for the
good words...

Not bad considering his disdain for SoCal (typical of Portland). You should see what he says about LA.
*****
I don't really go outta my way to write about what I think you should listen to, but there are a few bands that I really think you should at least listen to on MySpace and at least consider attending their shows.

The first is Pop Noir. An unsigned band from LA, the band has been called the band to watch in The Rockit Magazine, a tastemaker mag in LA. Have a listen to their songs on MySpace. They've got some good indie/electro songs and will be perfect for Morgan's birthday before we are wowed by Silverbird.

On Sunday, I'm actually skipping out on my boys in Swim Party to head to Brick by Brick for The Small Hours. I have a weakness for Brits (even though only have the band is British), what can I say? I also really like Brick By Brick as a venue and want to show up in a small way to encourage more of the indie rock bookings and less of the cover band and metal stuff. Plus, it's only $5. Words you never thought you'd see me type, right?
I'm taking a 3 day weekend so I hope to see everyone out. I'll be posting between all the fun so check back in.

Tuesday Recap: Paddleboat, Modern State, Soul Junk

Last night I got a solid nap in, had dinner, and found myself couching and flipping between American Idol and Find The Next Pussycat Doll before it occurred to me that I had to get out of my house and away from bad tv. Fortunately shows at Scolari's start later than most, so when I arrived around 10:30, the bands still hadn't started. Before going, I didn't even really pay attention to names of the bands playing, I just went because I trust Action Jackson's shows, and because one band is part of the Sounds Familyre family.

First up was Paddleboat, which is the solo work of Jeremy Scott from The Vision of A Dying World. The funny thing was I was unaware of his moniker until after he was done and while he played, I thought about what I would write here today. I was thinking of a sunny but breezy spring day on a pond in a small boat with an ex-boyfriend who has done me wrong and is trying to get me back with sweet little songs to butter me up. Paddleboat couldn't be a better name for how he sounds and I really enjoyed his short but sweet set.



Modern State was up next. On this night, the band consisted of two guys, one on guitar, the other juggling a trumpet, a xylophone, and various pedals and effects, and as Ryan Orion said, "you get the feeling that everything they say is important." In that way, they reminded me of Two Gallants but with less anthem, more dissonance, and a lot more experimentation (and no drums). They really blew me away, actually. I appreciate political music and their anti-capitalist themes struck a chord with me. They even had self screened CDs and shirts. In between songs, the singer announced, "We are for secession from the union if you'd like to talk to us about it." Power to the people.

I have to mention that between bands, I kicked Ryan's ass in pool. Aww yeah.

Unfortunately, while I love leftist politics in my music, I can only handle religion in small doses. If I had read this site, I might've known what to expect. Sometimes blindly going to a show is not such a great idea...

1955 shows a transition in Soul-Junk's sound. The
double-disk set consists of pop / Indie rock / hip hop influenced sounds. It is
also the last disk to make extensive use of biblical quotes – though Soul-Junk's
lyrics still clearly reflect their Christian worldview.

I myself would classify the sound as less indie, more stoner rock, but with a heavy dose of Jesus. The thing for me about that was the first couple songs, either I wasn't paying attention or they were not steeped in religion. It felt like all of the sudden, the lyrics switched to bible study. Half the people sorta snuck their way out. On top of that, the bassist had his back to the crowd the entire set and although it was Scolari's and the "stage" is less defined, it would've been nice if he acknowledged those of us who stuck around.

Anyway, they finished around 12:30 and I took off rather quickly after saying goodbye to Ryan, Riyadh and Jackson. I decided to stop at the Ken Club for karaoke but that ended up being a bad idea as I watched a guy do Paula Abdul's Straight Up and another do 2 Live Crew.

Sometimes you find a gem; sometimes you just gotta call it a night.