Nate, Nate, Nate

one of my favorite band people that comes through the cafe is giving up his sticks. nate of in:aviate and brobecks notoriety is dealing with some kidney issues and can't tour right now. seriously if you've ever met nate, you know he's a great guy. we get so many arrogant rock-types through the cafe, so when nate comes to town we get excited because he just plays good music without all the attitude.

at last night's cafe show, he could only play two songs. but when you know the drummer is only going to play two songs, it really helps build the excitement of the show. by the time he took the stage, the crowd and in:aviate were so ready to go they nearly destroyed the stage and themselves (and a really nice SG guitar). i'll miss nate behind a kit: he's a stunningly consistent drummer. the upside though is that he lives a few blocks from the cafe so hopefully we'll get to see more of him. nate, we wish you all our "best wishes and good thoughts on your recovery" (but you and everyone else knows that means we'll be praying for you!).

love, the cafe

I Owe Someone An Apology

I'm not sure who it was, or when it was, or if it even actually happened, but I vaguely remember someone telling me to check out a band called Rogue Wave. At the time I sort of just wrote it off for lame/boring radio music. This isn't the first time I've done this, I refused to listen to Silversun Pickups for months for that very same reason.

Anyway, I'm sure that I'm way behind on this, but Rogue Wave is really good. They sort of have a hint of The Shins, but not quite the same. I'm very much enjoying their record, so whoever it was that told me to listen to them, if you read this, sorry :)

YES!

Um... you WILL laugh.

I love that they actually get a standing ovation for this. I wonder if they're still playing together, maybe we can get them to play the Olé Bravo show.

Aaron Weiss Hides Spice Packets From Ramen Noodles In His Shoes

i touched aaron weiss last night on the shoulder and he shared some secrets (did you know mewithoutyou buries all their money in a field outside philly? well they probably do). okay seriously, last night's mewithoutyou, thrice, brand new bill at saltair was a really good show. thrice was seriously good, much better than i remember. dustin kensrue and company played a solid set in classic thrice style (i call it "hard standing"). thrice did some interesting things besides hard standing like using an ebow on a bass guitar and messing with a transformers-voice-box-effects-dealie on the song digital sea.

and whoever brand new is, kids really seem to dig them. and by dig them i mean donate their kidneys, rename their babies, absolutely love them. i'm definitely not going to write about how i liked brand new's show, but don't really get why people love them. if i did write about that, the brand new super friends (bnsf) might hurt me. they were great to watch though and did everything they could to just about destroy the stage.

all in all, it was a great night. and definitely better than the 5,000-person rave that occupied saltair after the show.

Band Of Horses

here's a freebie, courtesy of aversion music news...



check back tomorrow for thoughts on the mewithoutyou, thrice, brand new show tonight at saltair.

On Hard Core Shows And Their Loyal Scene Kids

lawrence (new sound guy at the cafe and guitarist from bastian) and i went to the hardcore show tonight at saltair. among the nineteen bands on the bill, we saw the devil wears prada, scary kids scaring kids and emery.

i am not a hardcore screamo kid, but went to see some old friends and had a great time seeing them. here's what i learned about hardcore shows and the scenesters that make it tick.

1. if underoath ever dies we have a spare (besides every screamo band of the last few years). the devil wears prada is good, but they're awfully similar to uo.

2. one raver can wreck a show for 1,000 kids. seriously who thinks that anything at saltair is a rave? if you see 50 other tweakers busting out their glow sticks, then please, join them. if you're the only one though, keep it in your pocket and wait til you're in front your hallway mirror.

3. scene kids = black t-shirts. it's been a few years since my last hardcore show, are we really still on black t-shirts? really?

4. emery should get another guitarist if they want to continue as a band. one guitar for a hard band is not enough to win over a 1,000 kiddos just waiting around to hear "walls" before the next band one takes the stage.

5. sexy dancing should never happen. especially at a hardcore show. if alcohol makes you want to sexy dance with your lady, then don't drink at a hardcore show.

6. hardcore bands = weird keyboardists. keyboarders? keyists? whatever they're called, you better have one and he'd better dance around like he has a fish in his pants and play about four notes per song. if possible, he should at some point, crowd surf during a guitar solo.

i'm going to mewithoutyou and brand new and thrice on saturday, so i may have a part two to this blog. and as a side note, why is mewithoutyou touring with hard bands?

It's been busy

It's been a while since we've posted, I feel so bad to our loyal reader... that's not a typo.

Check out Blitzen Trapper. They're sort of like this country-indie-west virginia (but from Oregon) rock band. It's really cool to listen to. They're heading out on a Euopean tour in a few days, those lucky jerks are getting paid to play music in Germany, oh what I wouldn't give. Anyway, hopefully they'll end up in Salt Lake sometime next year, and you better believe we'll be trying to book them.

Check it fool.

kicking it old school

I'm currently in Vegas, staring out of my room of the largest super 8 motel in the world, it's been a pretty incredible day, but also very long.

Before I left the comfort of Salt Lake for the un-comfort of Vegas I managed to stop off at Randy's Records on 9th. I love vinyls. I'm not a huge collector, in fact my collection could easily be called less than mediocre, but it's getting better. Anyway, I bought Cat Steven's "Tea for the Tillerman" and Elvis Costello's "My Aim is True". I'm very excited to get back home and listen to them while sipping on some juice, and by juice I really do mean juice, c'mon.

So now it's called xxxradio Chad? Not bloody likely. I would love to go to the boss cafe with you though, in honor of such an awesome name here is this video. By the way, I found out why they call him the boss.

Tim I Wish You Weren't In Las Vegas.

just stopped by the cafe tonight to catch a bit of the songwriter showcase. everyone i saw was amazing, but libbie linton totally blew me away. not that i thought the show would be weak, but honestly, we do shows for a living and we get kind of jaded. i can't wait to get her back into the cafe. and she has a quality ep available via her website and you should probably go buy it and support local independent music.

also, tim i found a restaurant on state street tonight called "boss cafe." i'm gonna take you there on a date on our way to a jazz game. and we can listen to the bruce springsteen channel on your super radio dealie in your car. xxxradio or whatever it is.

Canadians from Italy

So you've been sitting at home thinking to yourself "seriously, where am I going to find some clever "good" Italian rock pop?". I know, I know, I do it too, but I've got good news for you. You can stop looking.

The Canadians, no not the french/british descendants from the north but the Italian band of the same name, will quench your thirst for simply good music. As I like to put it, it's music that will be friends with your ears. You can download their single for free here. Personally, I feel like it's one of those cases where their single isn't necessarily their strongest song. Check it out anyway, or listen to the samples on Itunes and buy it.

Also I've been listening to these guys non stop: Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love

Supermarket Sweep

if you had $50 and 30 seconds in graywhale in draper (they're the only graywhale that doesn't take down our posters), here's what i suggest you aim for (based on what i've been listening to this week):

band of horses - cease to begin

the new band of horses is indeed better than their first cd. get beyond the s***bucks free download and get the whole album. click here to listen to the entire cd.

maritime - heresy and the hotel choir

maritime's third release just came out yesterday so i'm new to it still, but it's amazing. and in true promise ring fashion, this cd is not like the last maritime cd. there are echoes sure, but heresy is it's own bird.

manchester orchestra - i'm like a virgin losing a child

i know everyone's caught the hype about this band, but the hype is for real. mo is a great band and worth the effort to get their album.

and by the way, tim is making me a mix of bruce springsteen songs in the hopes that i'll develop a man crush on him. i say whatever; tim's always been my only man crush (since the untimely death of steve mcqueen) so if he wants to give that away, he's crazy.

also the new matt pond PA and the new pinback are amazing as well.

what's up fatlip?

I drove to Boulder today, it's a drive I've made numerous times, no big deal. I listened to a lot of new and old music on said drive which I enjoyed quite a bit such as the new Radiohead album (too obvious), Architecture is Helsinki (I dig), and a little Jose Gonzalez


If there is one person that I think would be incredible at the cafe it's Jose Gonzalez. If you haven't already purchased his new cd, In Our Nature, do it now. It's just too good. If we could by some act of God get him to play here, I think I would die a happy man.

Also, I'm pretty excited about our singer/songwriter showcase on the 19th. I think we've put together a lot of really good artists. Salt Lake, or I guess in our case Sandy, definitely needs a stronger (and by stronger I mean better quality not quantity) singer/songwriter scene. I think this show coming up is full of artists that could actually help build that, they're hand picked by us, and I dig what they're doing musically.

radiohead

the new radiohead cd in rainbows is out.

i'm not going to review it or anything because it's still downloading and because it's radiohead so i'm sure you already have your own copy. i know, i'm 24 hours behind, but i have been busy. you know how you can name your own price right and download it? well let's just say i hope some nice person overpaid, because i underpaid a bit...but, to redeem myself, i have already decided that i'll send my cd digitally to the radiohead guys for cheap when it comes out.

another statistic

Last night I came to the conclusion that Another Statistic is one of my favorite local bands. Seriously, good stuff. They've definitely got this pinback vibe going on, and at the same time they almost remind me of Hum + female vocals. I love it when a band has some creativity in their rhythm section and these guys don't hold back, Bryce Taylor and Elaine Doty switch back and forth between guitar/vocals and drums/vocals and each can more than hold their own in both areas.

They come from Provo, so that's where a lot of their shows are going to be, but if you ever get a chance check them out. I'm personally going to make it a point to make sure they play the cafe more often just so I can enjoy it.

click here

click here to hear kanye west's remix of peter, bjorn and john's "young folks." it's amazing. click here to hear the original. also, the brobecks are great and we're always happy to have them play the cafe.

and since we're doing the whole hyperlink thing, click here to download a free b-side from surrogate.

today i found a friend who also likes kate nash. having friends like tim and paul always sailing the rough seas on the very edge of music is a great thing. they put in all the work and research to discover new artists while i'm asleep below deck. and when they find something, they're good to wake me up and give me a listen. i give them full credit for all the great music they bring to my attention.

tim thinks i'm daft

I think it's strange that Tim thinks I'm daft for NOT liking an old man prance around stage with a bandanna in his pocket singing about things that happened before we were born...

Last night I went to the Eisley/Mutemath show at Club Sound (Kendal and Vanessa were there). We all agree that Eisley were amazing and should probably headline their own tours. We disagree on Mutemath. Kendal loves them (encore and all) and Vanessa and I left early. Too much self-indulgent mass rock if you ask me. They're quite popular though and certainly hard working. At one point last year they like toured for eight straight months. And while I'm happy for their success, I guess I'm just old enough that I'm not super impressed by how crazy a live show is. Of course I'm almost 30 which means I'm no one's target market anymore.

On another note, there are simply too many great cd's out right now that i don't have money for. Maybe I can borrow money from Tim?