Buke and Gase @ The Echo (2.19.13)

Buke and Gase

Buke and Gase are non-standard fare for the Acoustic Hodgepodge blog, but their unique sound and instrumentation drew me in.

Buke and Gase (formerly Buke and Gass) are named after their unique instruments. Buke (as played by Arone Dyer) stands for ???  Best I can tell its a similar form factor to a metal terz guitar, guitalele or tenor dobro (sans resonator) with a new neck to hold six strings. The tuning is some form of open chord that I am not 100% sure what it is. Gase (as played by Aron Sanchez) is a guitar bass hybrid. It appears to have the 4 strings of a bass and the two lowest strings of a guitar. Typically when you see 5/6 string base guitars they are going lower rather than higher. Gase was formally referred to in type as Gass but I suspect too many people mispronounced it.

The combination of the two is a fantastic energetic sound, that layers well. At least, I suppose it does live based on youtube clips I've heard.  There was a big sound flaw that delayed their set over half an hour. While this was going on, Dyer came out and played a wonderful solo number, but admittedly was uncomfortable continuing without her gase.  That, unfortunately, was the only song I heard clearly for the rest of the night.

Arone Dyer

Something the reader might now know about the Acoustic Hodgepodge is that I work in audio. I've recorded and mixed bands, worked in live sound and done various things in the pro/consumer audio world for over a decade. So when the sound is bad or something is wrong I have to fight the urge not to step in to help debug. When Sanchez started having sound issues, they really should have stepped back and taken the logical approach to subbing cables/ microphones and jacks. It would have saved a lot of time. In the end they ran a cable from backstage. From that point the change in sound setup resulted in the gase overwhelming everything else. The vox and buke were just gone. There was even one song that all you could hear was the gase DRONING ON ONE FUCKING NOTE.

Aron Sanchez

At the end of the night I decided to be fair and give the sound engineers a chance. I took out my hearing protection (very flat just a few dB down above 5-6kHz relative to the low end) and walked to the back near where they were. The mix was a bit better, and you could hear the buke and vox more, but the gase was still overpowering. I realized that part of their issue was that the gase was just too fucking loud on stage. Even Dyer said she didn't want to hear Sanchez at all in her monitors. But enough about sound...

I stuck around for most of the set because I really wanted to see these guys and because, well they're fun to watch. The two clearly play off each other. Exchanging glances, making faces and expressing how they think they're doing. Clearly two friends making happy noise.  Their sound is quite frenetic. The kick drum that Sanchez plays agressively drives sound.  Combine that with the tambourine Dyer stomps on to fill in the cymbals/snare and they don't even really need a drummer (which is good because they don't have one). There's an intensity in the vox and plenty of effects I'd like to talk about, but I really couldn't hear her very well where I was.

To summarize, very intriguing band but a sideways show resulted in disappointment.  I get it, it happens, but hopefully the next time I catch them their sound will be locked down.

Trampled By Turtles @ The Observatory OC (1.18.13)

Trampled By Turtles

For readers new to this blog, I should mention, lately I have been a bit obsessed with the banjo and all music that contains it.  Whether it be Pete Seeger, Bela Fleck,  Guster, Kermit the Frog or Trampled by Turtles. As such I was delighted when the TBT mgmt allowed me to shoot some photos at their show.

Dave Carroll

Of all the niche areas of blugrass, I have to say speedgrass is a new one.  Speed infers punk rockers picking up pennies and grass folksy acoustic instruments.  The reality of it is plaid shirted fans jumping and moshing to banjo solos, lots of fantastic beards and good looking women with jobs (not my phrase).  It was nice too see all the OC hippies come out of the woodwork again, if only for an evening.

Ryan Young

TBT, doesn't just play fast however though. What makes a good show is balancing speed with slow, happy with sad and light with dark. Coincidentally the majority of the dark happened during the three songs I had to shoot in the pit. I did get a few good photos though.

Dave Simonett

There was just something about this band that made them feel organic.  As if they all started playing together just for the hell of it and just happened to strike it lucky.  Even though Dave Simonett is the lead singer, it really seemed each was an equal member of the band.  Even their stage layout implied that with all five evenly spaced in a row with their own little spot on stage for amp and instruments. 

To close the show, TBT played a fantastic rendition of Where is My Mind. Unfortunately I had been tipped off about their cover of it before the show so it wasn't the mind blowing supprise it could have been. Pretty cool with the crowd singing the oohs though.


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% Side Note: HoneyHoney

While the headliner of the show was Trampled by Turtles, HoneyHoney was impressive.  Their records were a bit overproduced "meh," but live they were great.  Very much enjoyed their blend of country folk and rock. Suzanne Santo's stage personality was fairly adorable as well, but when she was singing it was nothing but soulful country.



Suzanne Santo

With her pipes, HoneyHoney could easily go commercial pop country and be huge, so you have to respect them for keeping it real.

 

Ben Jaffe

Ben Jaffe

Suzanne Santo

 

Miner @ The Echo (1.16.13)

Miner @ The Echo (1.16.13)

It's rare, but every so often a genuine band from LA emerges completely organically.  Miner is a band that keeps it in the family.  Husband and wife front the band with siblings and cousins backing.  Their demo EP (of which I highly recommend picking up a copy) is actually independently funded.  Their next full release will likely happen when a label snatches them up.  There were a few guys in suits looking completely out of place there tonight so I am sure that will be happening soon.

While I know that musicians always cringe when compared in a description I would place this band somewhere in between the Lumineers, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and a band who's name eludes me.  Their set was only around 40 minutes, and still in that short amount of time they played a cover. Although it was a very good cover who's name I don't recall.  Seemingly they must still be in the process of writing and getting more material ready to perform.  That said, they did still prove tonight that they have songs beyond those released on YouTube.



The band was somewhat lower energy than you might expect given their songs.  On their last song Hey Love, they started to get into it a bit more.  You could see Justin Miner almost tripping over his instrument cable while excitedly dancing as if it was something new to him.  Tonight's show gave the feeling they are still figuring out the live thing together and that as they grow, they are only going to be even more fun to watch.

One thing that I think says a lot was that even though Miner was the opener, the crowd mostly dissipated in the front and surrounded the band after they played.  This left almost no one near the stage for the headliner.  I'd heard they were local, but it's nice to see an actual local scene around a band in a tough market like this. I think yet again this was a case of a show where the wrong band opened.  I've just never seen such a dramatic example of it.


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% Side Note:

My only complaint? Their website is hard to find on search.  Try typing Miner into google (until recently nothing), Miner the band (only press), this is Miner (the only thing that finds them).  They may want to optimize their embedded tags on their website a bit more or expand the name to something like Miner Threat... oh wait...

Hey Marseilles @ The El Rey - LA (11.10.12)

Hey Marseilles

In a strange occurance tonight, Seawolf opened for Hey Marseilles after they left the stage.  It's unusual for a headliner to play before the opener, sure enough, but that's what happened.

Ever since I heard To Travels & Trunks I have been waiting for Hey Marseilles to do a show in Southern California. Their uplifting enegetic music is so well composed that it can be played with just an acoustic guitar or with full orchestration, 12 part harmony and all kinds of groovy things like that.

Matt Bishop

Often when you hear songs live, they are stripped down, missing some of the more essential intricate elements.  Fortunately, Hey Marseilles travels large.  There are at least six guys in the band, most of whom are musical slashes playing whatever is needed for a particular song.  This means that the full sound you hear on the album you get live too!



Philip Kobernik

They played some songs from their upcoming second album, sadly I did not write the names down (as I was running around with a camera).  It looks like they will maintain the feel of the first album with a slightly more electric sound.  For those of you anxiously holding fists full of dollars to buy it, the release date appears to be February 2013... assuming the Mayans are wrong that is.

 

Hey Marseilles and Friends

When they played "Rio," they brought out everyone who was hiding backstage to help with hand percussion, backing vox, clapping, etc.  Their entrances were staggered which added a nice build into the song, until at very last Alex Brown Church walked out. 

    

Hey Marseilles and Friends

I thought at this point that the band had peaked and they would be done for the night, but strangely they continued for one more sans guests.  This was fortunate though because the intesity they picked up during the previous song continued through.



Philip Kobernik

It was clear that the band was less known to the audience than Seawolf, but as they played they won the them over.  As the audience got more excited the band in tern became more energetic in their performance.  Honestly, its unfortunate they finished when they did.  I think another 20 minutes and they would have really been kicking.  Alas, such is the short set.  Hopefully the next time they come to town, Seawolf will be opening for them before them! 

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* Side Note:

Seawolf also played, and I really wanted to like them.  I respect them, but I just haven't been able to get excited about their music.  A few photos follow for anyone interested:

Seawolf

Seawolf

 

Seawolf



Seawolf

The Book of Mormon @ The Pantages Theater (11.8.12)

The Book of Mormon

Spoiler Alert: If you are still planning on seeing the Book of Mormon you may want to avoid this post. Continue at your own discretion.

Never before has female circumcision, dying of dysentery or having aids been so funny. It's difficult to walk that line between offense and hilarity, but it's something Trey and Matt have done for years. The best part of the musical was the windup. For the first few scenes it really felt like a happy go lucky musical if for no other purpose than to lull the "musical crowd" into a confidence and then hit them over the head with it when they got to Africa.

Amazingly excepting intentional exaggeration, they stuck to the facts of Mormon Church. Clearly they were laying into them a bit about said secret Mormon plates and other things, but nothing worse than what they already had. With all this ribbing going on, the Mormon church took it quite well. In fact, they bought 3 full page adds in the playbill.

I am absolutely in love with Trey Parker's composition skills. Melodies, layers, and comedy built together. As with the South Park movie, during the first half he put together all the musical themes together in a montage of overlaying melodies where each character was discussing their motivations. The lyrics of most of the songs were very South Park like. Raunchy numbers about dysentery and fuck you god, were well received. Sadly, my favorite song from their Joseph Smith episode (Joseph Smith wrote the book of Mormon dum dum dum dum dum).

The Book of Mormon

Given it's the traveling cast I was still very impressed with their voices and ability to project their character's to the audience. They did an especially great job casting "neutrogena" or whatever her name was. She may have been the best of the bunch. The male lead appeared to have a bit of an issue breaking, but did a great job covering by pulling them into the part.

Before the show I was talking to a friend and she mentioned she had heard mixed reviews. Some people loved it, others were horribly offended. I really do have to say, if at this point you go and don't know what you're getting in to, that's your own fault. In any case, our seats were kind of towards the back, so I kept an eye out to see if anyone would walk out. Not surprisingly, everyone stayed.

To sum up, good show, raunchy, offensive, funny and it beats the hell out of "Cannibal the Musical."

Bob Dylan @ The Hollywood Bowl (10.26.12)



Bob Dylan

For the longest time Bob Dylan has been at the top my list of bands to see before they die.  This might seem an odd list to keep, but it all started when I just missed my chance to see the Greatful Dead for the first time. I had tickets to see them close the Boston Garden in the September of 1995 and Jerry sadly died that August.  I got nervous when I saw Obama give Dylan the medal of freedom and decided the next time he came around I had to see him.

There's always a crew of people that like to knock Dylan for half heatedly putting on shows and generally sounding terrible.  It's true that he didn't have the same energy he did when he was 30, he didn't touch a guitar all night, his piano playing was a bit sloppy and his voice sounded more like Tom Waits than Bob Dylan.  While all that's indisputable, it was still amazing to see him perform some of the best songs and lyrics ever written.  I've always maintained that Dylan sang poorly back in the day because it's not about how pretty his voice is, rather its about what the songs were about.  Nashville Skyline is evidence of the fact that he could sing clean if he wanted to back then. 

Dylan's setlist included a wide range of songs including some of my favorites like Desolation Row, All Along the Watchtower and Tangled Up in Blue.



As a singer-songwriter I did find myself compelled to shout the obligatory "JUDAS" during "Like a Rolling Stone."  Not because I hate rock and roll though. In fact Dylan plugging in was one of the best things to ever happen to rock.  It was more because that one action set the folk music movement back so far that it is only in the last 15 years or so that it has started to recover.  Don't worry... I wasn't loud about it.

Bob Dylan's songs have meant so much to me over the years. I often felt that what Woody Guthrie is to Dylan, Dylan is to me.  I've heard stories of him visiting Guthrie on his death bed and seeing him in various states for better or worse.  He didn't go because he expected Guthrie to be "on," he went because of the man's importance to both the music world and himself.  To all those thinking of going to see Dylan themselves, I suggest keeping an open mind and appreciate it for what it is, a chance to see a living legend.

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* Author's Note: The Hollywood Bowl is a good sounding venue, but has a terrible sound reinforcement system.  I was sitting in the middle of the bowl and even there, people were "shushing" each other for talking during the show.  I can't remember the last time I went to a rock show so quiet that was even an issue.

The Lumineers @ The Observatory OC (10.7.12)



The Lumineers

I still remember the day my friend sent me a link for the Lumineers. I was blown away by genuine heartfelt music clearly written by people who love what they do. I found myself wondering if they were capable of bringing that to the stage or if it would fizzle in the spotlights. Clearly my doubts were unwarranted. So glad I went!

Wesley Schultz

These guys get it. Folk music is not about playing ridiculously fast or crazy arpeggiation. It's about keeping it simple and approachable. Something everyone can sing. The reason most popular folk melodies move in such small intervals is because everyone can sing them together (unlike our national anthem). There is nothing quite like an entire _building_ of people singing along. Much like Pete Seeger before them The Lumineers seem to recognize, the more involved people are with the music the more they will enjoy it.

Jeremiah Fraites

Now being old school in my music consumption, I have been spinning their CD for a while and recognize how solid an album it is. What surprised me is that in the middle of this iTunes era so much of the audience knew ALL of their songs not just their single. To me it leaves hope that the album might be not quite dead yet.

Wesley Schultz

One of the great discoveries during the show is how amazing Neyla Pekarek's voice is. When they did their new song Falling, it blew my mind what they had been hiding.



Admittedly, it might be a bit outside of the sound they were going for on the first record, but hopefully the next time they sit down and track an album, they find a way to use it more! It's much like Laura Marling backing up Noah and the Whale or subsequently Marcus Mumford backing her up.


Neyla Pekarek

There were plenty of other nice surprises during the show including a Dylan cover and the band jumping into the crowd to play a fully acoustic version of Darlene. I've seen plenty of bands do variations of this, but I've never seen one get so in the dead heart of the crowd and take a full setup with them.



I do have to say that the Lumineers did manage to make me feel a bit old. To be fair, I was born in the 80's (just), but was amazed at the number of fans that didn't know "The Weight" by the Band. Only about 4 people in the entire audience knew the song AND THEY HAD JUST PLAYED IT ON THE PA BEFORE THEIR SET (whoops)! They ended up having one of the four come up. The woman they chose was awkward, funny and slightly out of tune. Probably the best person for the job. I was one of the other four who knew that song because it's the sort of thing my friends and I sing when we're hanging out having a few drinks. It made me happy that that was the sort of thing they did as well. I guess what I dug most about these guys that they share their genuine enjoyment of the music with the people.

The Lumineers

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* Side Note

Sound at the observatory was amazing. It was even good in the corner. Not sure if that's the Lumineers or the local guy, but keep it up!