Modern Minstrels

BFD 2005

On Friday Nick and I went to Live 105's BFD concert at the Shorline Amphitheater in Mountain View. Unfortunately, due to some stuff I needed to do at work I missed two bands I really wanted to see MxPx and to a lesser extent Senses Fail. I got to the show around 4:30 and made it to the stage just in time to catch Alkaline Trio's set. This was the first time I've seen them live, and they played a good set. A couple older songs, some songs from Good Mourning, and a couple from their album which just came out, Crimson. They ended with Time to Waste which is one of my favorite songs from Crimson.

The next band on that stage was Hot Hot Heat who I had actually heard at BFD two years ago when I was out here as an Intern at Apple. They sounded pretty good, I should check out some of their stuff in the future. After that Nick and I made our way over to the main stage. The first band was The Lovemakers who were introduced as "The greatest local band in the world"....only they weren't. Next up were Kasabian, who were alright but I didn't really get into them.

Then came Jimmy Eat World who was another band I was looking forward to seeing (even though I saw them just a couple weeks ago). They played a lot of songs from Bleed American, as well as a few from Clarity, and a few from Futures (woo "nickel and dimed").

Social Distortion followed them and I actually enjoyed their set. I had heard of them before, but wasn't really familiar with any of their songs. They played some good straight up guitar rock though.

Last up were the headliners, The Foo Fighters. They also headlined when I was at BFD two years ago, but I had ridden my bike and had to leave before they played. We stayed for a little over half of their set and then decided to leave lest we get stuck in the sure to be insane traffic jam. Though we should have waited for two more songs, because as we were walking in the parking lot, we could hear them playing Everlong which is one of my favorite songs by them.

All in all, it wasn't the strongest lineup of bands from my point of view, but for $12 it was definitely worth it. It was nice getting to spend time outside and hear to some good music.

CD Purchases

I stopped at Best Buy to pick up a few CDs (all under $10). I saw in their weekly ad that they had Acceptance's new album Phantoms on sale for $8. I've been wanting to pick this up for a while, but hadn't gotten around to it. Needless to say, knowing it was only $8 was all the motivation I needed. Phantoms is an album pretty much anyone can enjoy. Their single, Different, was the free iTunes download last week.

The next CD I picked up was Motion City Soundtrack's Commit This to Memory which just came out last week. This is a great followup to their last album and is filled with fast beats and catchy lyrics. My favorite tracks include Attractive Today, Feels Like Rain, L.G. FUAD and Time Turned Fragile.

The last CD I picked up was Interventions and Lullabies by The Format. I first heard The Format when they opened for Something Corporate and Yellowcard last spring and really enjoyed their set. The album has a bunch of really catchy songs like The First Single, and Tune Out. My recent favorite song is the excellent (if a bit depressing) On Your Porch.

These albums should give me some good music for the start of the summer. Though I still need to pick up the new Coldplay album and the Punk Goes 80's compilation.

All Good Things Have Endings

The Get Up Kids kicked off their final tour in San Francisco on Thursday and you'd better believe I was there. Mike sent me some of The Get Up Kids' mp3s ("Mass Pike" and "Action and Action" were my immediate favorites) back in high school and I was immediately hooked. Very soon after that I picked up the Red Letter Day EP and Something to Write Home About. They got me started with the whole punk/emo/indie scene and I have discovered so many bands since then. But TGUK remains a personal favorite and they will always be the band that started it all for me. So it is a bit unfortunate that the first time I get to see them will also be the last. But alas, on with the show!

Eric and I made it to San Francisco about 7 and stopped at the Subway right by The Fillmore for a quick bite to eat. By the time we got to the venue we still had a good 20 minutes before the show started, there weren't a ton of people in the theater part yet, so we got in the Merch line since I knew I wanted to get a shirt. I picked up a black shirt with a picture of a grain of wheat that says "The Get Up Kids" underneath. I also picked up their new Live CD since it was only $10. We got into the theater about a minute before Punchline (from Pittsburgh) came on and were only about 10 people away from the front, so that worked out perfectly.

I've seen Punchline once before, they opened for Allister at the Grog Shop last April (my last show in Cleveland). So I was familiar with a few of their songs and looking forward to seeing them. Unfortunately, only a handful of other people were familiar with them. Nonetheless they put on a good show and were able to get the crowd to sing along with a few songs and started a chant "The Get Up Kids are the greatest band in the world!" I definitely enjoyed their set and hope to see them on some more tours.

Next up was Say Anything, who I was also looking forward to seeing. They had opened for Straylight Run at the Bottom of the Hill. Fortunately at this show quite a few people were familiar with them so there was lots of singing along. They played a good number of songs including (in no particular order):

Belt
Woe
Yellow Cat/ Red Cat
Spidersong
Slowly Through the Vector
Alive With The Glory of Love

Next up were The Get Up Kids (after what has to be the longest time between sets EVER: pushing 40 minutes). After an amusing welcome message made by James behind the stage, they came out and jumped right into Coming Clean and everyone went crazy jumping and singing. It was great. By the end of the show I had made my way 2 or 3 people from the front.

Their set was pretty much everything I hoped it would be. Lots of songs, lots from Something to Write Home About, and heck they even played their cover of Close to Me. I was really surprised by the double encore. After the main set was over, it was obvious they'd be coming back for an encore. Then when they ended the encore with I'll Catch You, I figured that was the end of the show. But when the lights didn't come on after they had left the stage, you'd knew they'd be back for at least one more song and even better than that they came back for three more. It was great that they ended with a fast, upbeat song like 10 Minutes. So with that I say so long to The Get Up Kids. You've been an amazingly influential band to all your fans and to lots of other bands. Thanks for 10 years of outstanding music.

Set List
(First three songs, and the encores are in the correct order)

Coming Clean
Holiday
Action and Action

The One You Want
Woodson
Martyr Me
Mass Pike
Campfire Kansas
Red Letter Day
No Love
Don't Hate Me
Never Be Alone
I'm a Loner Dottie, A Rebel
At Least 2 or 3 more

Encore 1
Close to Me
Beer for Breakfast
I'll Catch You

Encore 2
Shorty
Out of Reach
Ten Minutes

Edit: Mike posts his review of The Get Up Kids' show in New Jersey.