A Night At The Bowl, or Preamble To Insanity...

In and of itself, a night at the Hollywood Bowl in the company of No Age, Sonic Youth, and Pavement sounds like a quaint time with fun for all...But dialing back and looking at the big picture, it represented the first shots fired of an incredible weekend, for it had the good grace to occupy that spot on the calender right before 'The Lost Weekend', Matador Records celebration of its 21st anniversary, at the Palms in Las Vegas.

The next three installments will take care of that action, so now we'll just focus on the matter at hand...

Up first, Los Angeles' own No Age, Dean and Randy making the leap to the big stage with an extra added member wielding samples and adding some extra ooomph to their sound. If you need to do a little compare and contrast, head back to the Coachella 2009 wrapup, and see how they controlled the tent.
Bolstered by songs from their new album: 'Everything In Between', No Age kicked off the proceedings in style, adding depth to their sound without sacrificing its quirkiness, as well as laying the table for the likes of a noisefest the Bowl has probably never witnessed.

In the absence of Pavement being on the road, Sonic Youth absconded with their bass player Mark Ibold, allowing Kim Gordon to move over to guitar and add another dimension to their sound. (see January 2010, Wiltern Theater, LA report for more details) The question was, would Ibold do double duty? Fortunately, (for him) that was not to be...

From the first quivering notes of "Candle", (below), Sonic Youth had the crowd in thrall. It was but the opening salvo in a three song barrage from 'Daydream Nation', (also: "Sprawl" & "'Cross The Breeze"), that set the tone for a trip into the deepest and noisiest recesses of their catalogue. Quartet style, they dropped DN's "Hey Joni", before heading back to "Death Valley 69", and 'EVOL's' "Kiss Me In The Shadow", after which Kim Gordon noted drily: "Thanks a lot, we're Pavement from Sacremento". They finished the set with "White Cross", leaving no doubt as to their undiminished power.

Pavement is on the final lap of its reunion/victory lap around the world, and given their spotty history as a live act, it's been a revelation to see these performances. Pavement played to the strengths of their catalogue and delivered a rousing set that leaned heavily on 'Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain' and 'Brighten The Corners'. Bob Nastanovich made the journey along the pool circle wall out into the masses during "Unfair", and the band peaked during a three song arc of: "Stereo", "Stop Breathin'", and "Range Life", (latter below), before finishing with a heartwarming "Here". A satisfying end to a run that defied the normal reunion expectations...

Thanks out to the L.A. Philharmonic, for going way out on a limb with this show...It is appreciated.

Phoenix rising...

French pop sensation Phoenix, still touring hard on the heels of 2009's 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix', brought their show to the Santa Barbara County Bowl on Sunday night. This came the night after, what August Brown in the LA Times termed, 'a career making performance' at the Hollywood Bowl. Their outdoor stage appearance at Coachella this year drew an overflow crowd that I couldn't penetrate, but left an impression, and on their own at 'our' Bowl, they did not disappoint.

They hit the stage to a rousing take of 'Wolfgang's' opener, "Lisztomania" (above), and never looked back.

The band did a great job of translating a particularly detailed album to the jet thrust umph that an arena level show demands, without sacrificing the danceability and deadening the sound, as seems to happen all too frequently.
No elaborate production for this unit, a standard light show, and the odd full sized curtain were simple and well deployed.







Below is mid set crowd burner "Girlfriend"...

As a present to fans as they wind down their U.S. tour, the band announced that they are giving away the multi.track masters free for all your remix needs!

Not to be forgotten were tonight's opener: Neon Indian, who overcame the sparse early arrivals, (this of course being Santa Barbara), and a spotty sound mix that never seemed to gel until near the end of their set, to win over the crowd.

Interestingly enough, this was my first trip to the County Bowl this season, and I would be remiss if I didn't note, for those who haven't had the pleasure, that this is one of the finest facilities of it's size in the country, and always takes on a special tinge of magic at sunset...