Picture of the Day: The National on Their Favorite Musicians

I absolutely love this. Found on Tumblr via the brilliant http://fuckyeahthenational.tumblr.com/.

Picture of the Day: Matt Berninger

The absolute best magazine cover I have ever seen in my life.

The National, Terminal 5 - July 29, 2010

Since I've written a lot of reviews of The National over the past few months and there's still one more to come for the year, I'll do this review in a list format. Here are ten facts from The National's concert at Terminal 5 that seem most important:

01. Suckers, one of two opening bands, was phenomenal. They managed to be both entertaining and talented. Kurt Vile (other opening act) was the opposite.

02. Matt Berninger has never looked better. His outfit, consisting of fitted black jeans cuffed at the bottom, worn in black boots, tucked in button down shirt, vest, and black blazer, was utterly perfect. He is my choice for best dressed person in music today.

03. The concert was way too short. At around an hour and a half, the time element was disappointing and very unlike The National who usually give their audience at least 30 minutes more.

04. I'm not the biggest fan of Terminal 5, particuarly their strange routine of lining everyone up against the wall of the roof like cattle until the doors officially open for the show. I had never experienced that before and it made me feel sticky and stupid - not a good combination.

05. Bryan Devendorf is my favorite drummer. His t-shirt that read "The Ultimate is Here" is not a joke. He IS the ultimate. He adds so much to the caliber of The National that I can't imagine another drummer doing what he can. There's so much personality and unique performance style mixed in to his playing. He came out on stage early to set up his drums and people in the front row immediately started snapping pictures. When I see him, I know great things are about to happen.

06. The sophistication and elegance of a National concert is never lost on anyone. The hush that comes over the audience when Matt steps on stage never fails to amaze me. It's a magical feeling.

07. I was disappointed by the lack of "Daughters of the Soho Riots" and "About Today" which have become frequent in recent set lists. There were no surprises whatsoever. 

08. Although the band joked that it's the hardest song to perform, "Lemonworld" has never sounded better and gorgeous lemon/lime lighting only added to the eerie feeling of the song.

09. "Conversation 16" was the other highlight of the set for me and has seemingly become an anthem among crowds at recent shows. "Squalor Victoria" and "Mr. November" were also standouts in a louder fashion. Unfortunately no stage diving or running across bars for the drunken Mr. Berninger though.

10. Every concert The National puts on is destined to be great. This one was no exception. It wasn't the all time greatest but I'd see Matt Berninger perform in a McDonald's wearing a Ronald McDonald costume if it meant I got to hear these songs live. They can do no wrong.

                        

All photographs courtesty of ME.

A Concert in Pictures: John Mayer, PNC Bank Arts Center - August 3, 2010

The great Train, a headliner, in their own right, opened for Mayer with an incredible 50 minute set that completely blew every other John Mayer opener in previous years away. Train is the kind of commercial rock band that I wish I didn't like but they're irresistable..

...particularly because of frontman and songwriter Pat Monahan who is one of the best live singers I have ever heard. His voice gives me chills when I least expect it and although it's slightly difficult to get past his showy stage demeanor and strange Ed Hardy-ish style, his music and specifically unusual lyrical phrasing, really makes it worth it.

This is my third and final time seeing part of John Mayer's summer tour and while I didn't think he could get better than his Jones Beach concert on July 21, this topped it by far. Consistently Mayer surprised the audience with his candid honesty and silly behavior (trading bracelets with a girl in the audience and telling the crowd how much he loves to sleep alone).

Wearing a black headband, fully buttoned plaid shirt, and rolled up khaki pants, Mayer didn't necessarily look the part of a rock star guitarist but during the always astounding cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine", his skills were front and center.

It's no surprise to anyone who has seen Mayer live before that he makes absurd faces.

And he looked a little high...

But managed to bring a new spin to every song he performed. Standouts included a gorgeous rendition of "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)", "Clarity", and "Heartbreak Warfare".

For the underappreciated final track on "Battle Studies" entitled "Do You Know Me?", Mayer brought out the harmonica and teased the audience with a small sampling of the hit "Say" near the end.

Another classic Mayer technique: ending the show with some guitar playing on the ground. People go completely nuts and as you can see, run up to the stage and block my view. It's one of the most incredible things I've seen at a concert though. Anyone who says John Mayer is talentless has clearly not seen him play live.

Mayer's playfulness on stage definitely helps to make the audience feel a connection to him as not just a musician but a friend in some way. After seeing him over 30 times in the past nine years, I can tell you that his banter only enhances the concert experience.

More incredible guitar playing (if you're still unfamiliar with his style, check out the unbelievable "Gravity" as evidence of his genius).

John Mayer will probably be on tour for the next three months at least so make sure you check him out. Lawn seats are cheap!

John Mayer Setlist  - August 3, 2010

Chest Fever -> Bigger Than My Body

                                                                       No Such Thing

Clarity

Slow Dancing in a Burning Room

Perfectly Lonely

Ain’t No Sunshine

Who Says

Waiting on the World to Change

War Of My Life

Gravity

Heartbreak Warfare

Do You Know Me

The Boys of Summer (w/ Patrick Monahan)

Half of My Heart

-encore-

Edge of Desire

All photographs courtesy of ME.

Picture of the Day: John Mayer

The passion of a guitarist.

My View of John Mayer

I don't know where to begin..

On November 17, 2009, I was lucky enough to be in the third row at John Mayer's record release show in New York City taped live for the Fuse network. I went alone, prepared to spend the entire evening with just a drink and John (him on stage, me in my seat). I love going to concerts with other people but John Mayer is a religious experience for me, regardless of how embarrassing that may sound. Going alone usually turns out to be the best route - not to mention of course that I'm the only person I know who would spend $100 a ticket on him.

This specific evening was particularly worth it though. Even if you don't care for John Mayer, imagine your favorite musician inches away from you singing your favorite songs and spicing it all up with silly anecdotes to amuse the crowd that you just happen to be a part of. The whole experience is insanely dizzying and immensely gratifying.

At the time I meant to write a review of how excellent the concert was and how unusual the feeling of watching cameramen circling around with huge cameras in your face is in the middle of a live performance but somehow it never came into fruition. As I was looking back on draft entries though, these photographs stood out to me and I wanted to put them out there regardless of the lack of a review. It's rare that I get the opportunity to take the photographs myself and I didn't want to miss out on showing them to you. These were taken with one of those flimsy Nikon "coolpix" cameras and then slightly edited with the basic built-in computer system (I'm obviously not a digital expert) but I keep imagining how incredible they would've been if I had a better camera. Luckily, Mr. Mayer has a way of making anything look good.

I'm incredibly thrilled to report that I'll be seeing him again in February so hopefully I'll manage a great review to make up for whatever this is.

I hope you like the pictures and feel free to steal them! It would make me feel important as I usually only steal the good ones. Also, check out the great video footage of the Beacon show below (courtesy of Fuse).

Nothing Beats a Good Poster

Just stumbled upon a great music poster website called The Small Stakes . They have some of the best poster art I've ever seen in terms of miminalist, funky, modern designs that would look fantastic on a living room wall. And if you're at least a semi-middle class person their prices aren't even that bad (if you're a poor college student, it's a little rougher). I love these though and would consider forking over the $25 plus shipping fees for a few of them if I didn't then have to buy an additional frame, border, etc. to make it look right on my already carefully decorated walls.

But in all seriousness, these are exceptional..

Rock Photography

Just came across an amazing photographer, Justin Borucki, that I felt compelled to share with everyone. Of course one of the most amazing components of these photographs are the subjects but his artistic eye is definitely worth commenting on. The facial expressions he captures in these are pretty interesting.

Top to Bottom: Chris Cornell, Robert Smith - The Cure, John Frusciante - Red Hot Chili Peppers, Common, and 88 Keys.







If you liked these, also check out the brilliant work of Melissa Friedman on her website beIMAGED. Some truly inspiring stuff.



All of these photos found on www.justinborucki.com

Picture of the Day

James Mercer on the cover of now defunct magazine "No Depression" (though still available bi-annually in book-like form).

Fashion Rocks

These photographs speak for themselves.


Queen Latifah
Patti Smith
Jackson Browne
Tom Petty
Johnny Cash
John Mayer
Gram Parsons
Eric Clapton
CSNY

Buffalo Springfield

Picture Party

With all the beautiful photography that goes along with music, from the publicity shots to album covers to magazine spreads, I thought it smart to create an entry I'll try to do two or three times a month specifically dedicated to photographs of a particular theme involving music. I have a few ideas but since this is an especially slow day at work I'll start with the one most fun to look at: attractive male singers. The images below capture different forms of intensity on the faces of some of the more uniquely appealing musicians. Enjoy.

James Mercer

John Legend

Common

Jamie Lidell

John Frusciante Shooter Jennings
John Mayer
Justin Vernon
Ray LaMontagne
Matt Costa