KPRI Presents: One eskimO at The Loft, 1.28.2011

Here's a little story. Chris Cantore called me earlier this week and said that KPRI had an opportunity for a last minute private listener concert with a huge international band and if I had any ideas where they could play. They were thinking Lestat's, Claire de Lune and a couple other venues. When he told me it was One eskimO, I told him I would help call around and see what was available. Unfortunately, certain venues aren't known for their speedy replies, so though we had a couple backup plans, the station contacted Liz at The Loft and made it happen. As usual, I went early to make sure I shot photos and videos, and it was also arranged that I'd meet the band before the show. I thought I'd have either Bob Hughes from KPRI or Chris Cantore on behalf of the station and SoundDiego do the interview and just film. I was on a day full of meetings and three hours of sleep. Generally a cameraphobe anyway, I did not want to be on camera or behind it doing another disastrous interview.

Kristian was sick, but Adam, Jamie, and Pete convinced me that we should do an interview and volunteered to interview themselves, which to me was the best 10 minutes of video I've probably ever shot.



Bob ended up showing up, as did Marc Balanky, who shoots video for SoundDiego, so the need for my interview for NBC or KPRI dissolved, so I decided to post it as is, raw and uncut. Because Kristian was sick, you can tell that Pete and Jaime were incredibly nervous, so they're both pretty vocally quiet in most of these videos, but as it was probably something that won't happen again, here are all of the videos. Click the right and left buttons to navigate through the playlist. Take the time to watch them in HD.



Huge thanks to Liz at The Loft, Bob, Chris, Haley, Magi, and Christina at KPRI, Marc, and especially to Pete, Jaime, and Adam for being such great sports. Hope you feel better soon, Kristian! (Check SoundDiego.com next week for more of my photos. I'm like my own little multimedia channel and shot photos with my right hand as I filmed with my left. )

One eskimO & Alpha Rev at Anthology, July 1

Earlier this week, Jeff posted his pick of the week with the One eskimO and Alpha Rev show. We've had the pleasure of seeing both bands; One eskimO played a KPRI show at Soundwave and Alpha Rev played for the station at West Coast Tavern. Both are playing tomorrow at Anthology, and while first floor tickets are sold out, some V-tix are still available here.

Here are the videos from both shows, and while the videos are decent, I guarantee this is a show you want to see live, especially in a beautiful venue like Anthology.

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.