The Jealous Sound and Sunny Day Real Estate concert review

I am a huge fan of the Jealous Sound and Knapsack. This was the first time in a while where I was more excited for the opening band than the headliner at First Ave. The headliner was Sunny Day Real Estate, so that is saying something about The Jealous Sound. I have been waiting years to see these guys live, let alone hear new material from them. Well, last night I got both!
It was so surreal to see The Jealous Sound. A band that I somehow found out about on a fluke that blew me a way. A band that not many have heard about and keep quiet about what they are doing on their myspace page. There has always been a big mystery about them, but last night it was fun to see them up close and personal.
Everyone by the stage was into them, which made me happy. I, However, was the only one singing along with them. They played all of my favorites. Abandon! Abandon! was amazing. It was great to see Pedro play guitar, and especially for this song.
Their new song was titled “Big Loves” and sounds quite different than their previous material. Maybe not as catchy as their other stuff, but it sounded great. One thing I was curious about was they didn’t perform with Nate Mendel. I read on their myspace blog that they were working with him on their new songs. I suppose his time with both bands is limited, so they need a full time bass player. The new bass player was cool and actually gave me their setlist. I also met Pedro and Blair outside after the show. Very cool gents. They are all nice and appreciative guys and it was an honor to meet these people and hear their amazing music.

Sunny Day Real Estate were on next. They only played one song more than The Jealous Sound (not counting the encore). It was a trip seeing these guys back on the stage together. Besides the great songs they played, it was fun just seeing these guys up on stage looking genuinely happy to be back together. They all had big smiles on their faces. It surprised me to hear so many songs from the pink album. Both Diary and Pink are amazing, but assuming there was tension during the recording of the Pink album, you would think there were be tension on stage during these songs. This wasn’t the case.
I have never seen so many smiles during a concert as I did this show. Everyone was happy to see these guys back at it again, and everyone was taking a trip down memory lane. Best concert of the year!

The Jealous Sound

It saddens me that this band gets little press. The SDRE/Jealous sound tour has started, yet the opening band gets little online coverage. There is plenty of video of SDRE on youtube, but I haven’t found any new Jealous Sound video. I suppose this is usual for opening bands, but this is the first time The Jealous Sound has played in a very long time! I hope TJS gets a lot of new fans, and what a perfect way to get some by touring with SDRE.
I don’t think people realize the influence Blair Shehan had on the scene. Does a little band called Knapsack ring a bell? Well…maybe not. Knapsack started in ’93 and release 3 amazing records. I hope people realize that this guy was there when the scene started and influenced the sound and style of the scene.
I will do my best to take some good pics and video of TJS at First Ave on Wednesday as I am not sure how packed it will be for the opening band. I am still surprised that as of now, the show isn’t sold out.
The Jealous Sound don’t let us in on too much news so I will do my best to update on anything I notice.

Check out a quick blurb here. Nice pic of Blair rocking out.

They uploaded a free a “new” song called Priceless here

Check here often. As this blogger gets a lot of SDRE/TJS info

Hi

Get to the Electric Fetus ASAP this weekend! CDs for $1, $2, and $3!!! Discounted vinyl too! Picked me up some nice finds that I would never have bought otherwise: Superdrag’s b-sides collection, United States of Electronica, Pete Krebs, Preston School of Industry, Sunday’s Best, Halo Benders. Some really good stuff here for dirt cheap! Sale ends 6pm on Sunday.
I pray that the Fetus can stay in business. It appears they are doing a great job to keep business: sales, concerts, and even a download store! Their marketing is very smart and I hope it keeps them alive!
I’m sure everyone knows by now that Pavement is reuniting! A bit too early to announce it though. Not till a year from now. People will have to try not to lose their tickets as they already went on sale for the first 4 announced shows. Here is hoping they come to MN, but not to the Roy Wilkins.
Sunny Day Real Estate kicked off their tour a day earlier than announced in Canada. From what I heard, they sound great!

Japandroids: Turf Club review

Post-Nothing by the Japandroids is one of my favorite records of the year. The entire thing is perfect. From the melodies and lyrics to the little details of the vocal effects, the thing is flawless. It’s a nice, short little record that will always remind me of summer.
Japandroids played last night at the Turf Club in St. Paul. They started off quite well, although it could have been louder. They didn’t have the loud punch that the record gives off. I enjoy the distorted vocals on Post-Nothing and here we got very little distortion. I didn’t mind too much, but the vocals just weren’t as loud as they should have been. The band was full of energy, but their equipment was just very lacking.
I like how they explained their situation: Just because you heard of us, doesn’t mean we have tons of money. This is so true. With blogs giving buzz to so many bands, in the internet world they are huge. In real life they are not so huge. I was expecting this show to sell out, but there were only a handful of people there.
I am dying to find out the name of the cover they played. Their cover song blew me away. More so than any of their originals. Mainly because I was expecting a better sound like I am familiar with the record.
The band banter was entertaining, but got to be too long. People were throwing shoes and socks, which was quite funny. Then their guitar went to crap. Once they switched to the back-up guitar, the show went down hill…fast. They botched “Sovereignty” to the point where I felt embarrassed for them. It was quite hard to watch. The shotty equipment mixed with the band getting drunker was a turn for the worse. They were very apologetic though. To make up for it they played “I Quit Girls”, which they claim they have never played in the States before. It would have been cool, but they butchered that song too. Oh well, Can’t win them all. Hopefully they do better for the rest of the tour. If anyone knows that cover song, please post it!

Brand New to play First Ave

Brand New gets moved to First Ave!!  I just got an email from Ticketmaster announcing that tickets for Brand New at First Ave on 10/04/09 are on sale on 9/10/09.  I clicked on the link and it says that tickets for the Myth are redeemable at First Ave.  You would think Ticketmaster would email everyone announcing the venue change. 

I haven’t been to the Myth before, but I am assuming that it is a larger venue than First Ave.  Most fans have probably already gotten their tickets.  I wonder if there will even be tickets available.  I am so relieved that First Ave is putting on the show because I heard that the Myth is a crappy venue.  I LOVE First Ave.  My favorite Minneapolis venue only behind the 400 Bar. 

Brand New + Manchester Orchestra = Very hard show to top.  

Can’t wait for Sunny Day Real Estate/ Jealous Sound!!!

Ramblings

Haven’t updated in a while as I was without internet for some time. As if anyone actually reads this but me.
New musical things for me:
New Elliott Smith song found at sweetaddy.com message boards. Sadly, the boards will be gone come October. I am hoping someone uploads a ton of unreleased stuff before the boards shut done. Someone already uploaded his entire unreleased collection all in one download.
Looking forward to the Jealous Sound/Sunny Day Real Estate show at First Ave this month. This will probably be the highlight show of the year for me. Both bands mean so much to me and will always remind me of early college. Back when life was so simple. Back when I could blow money on CDs. Music sure has changed since then.
Now both bands are both at it again. Jealous Sound is making new music and I am SDRE do the same.
Such a trip—One former Foo Figher and one current Foo Fighter back together. One who is also working with The Jealous Sound on their forthcoming album. All of it is a dream come true to me. I wonder what the Foo Fighter’s status is that Grohl is now doing the crooked vultures side project. Honestly, I could be happy with less Foo Fighter and more side project.
I love how the Jealous Sound has always been such a mystery. They go away for some time, release an EP out of nowhere, and post a message on myspace. Post another one about the tour, and keep us wating for the next message. In this internet era, you think you can keep up with a band on a weekly basis. I guess the Jealous Sound doesn’t have that much of a public demand for news updates as say how much Pitchfork writes about Radiohead farting on a snare drum.
Speaking of mysterious bands, I am still waiting for The Etiquette to release their new album online. I don’t understand what is taking them so long.
On my way to Chicago tomorrow! Love this time of year!