Best Concerts of 2011

 

2011 is almost over! This year I definitely didn’t go to as many rock concerts as 2010 (with generally fewer of my favourite bands that came here to play).

I only went to 6 shows in all of 2011… The Black Angels, The Black Keys, Soundgarden, Iron & Wine, Ben Harper, and The Sheepdogs.

I have always liked concerts; since I got my first fix in high school I haven’t been able to kick it. There’s something about a big room of people all there singing and dancing and having a good time that is infectious.

My favourite show of 2011 was The Black Keys that came in the summertime. The Black Keys came the year prior, but due to a ticket-buying-mix-up, I couldn’t get a ticket. Unless of course I wanted to get one from Ebay for $500… So I had been looking forward to seeing them for a long time.

They were incredible. The hype for this band is huge, so they couldn’t disappoint. Considering how minimalist their band is, they have huge sound and huge spirit. Cage the Elephant opened for them but didn’t tickle my fancy. In fact I was let down by their performance… it seemed amateur and immature. Especially compared to the Black Keys. The Black Keys are a must see!

Iron & Wine was another superb show. Mr. Beam is such an amazing entertainer. I think there were probably 8 people on stage with him, and they all showed super enthusiasm for playing with him. The saxophonist was especially groovy. 

They played singles and fan favourites, but with every single song they changed the pacing/length/intensity of the song. Many of the songs were hardly recognizable apart from the lyrics – they switched it up immensely – to the pleasure of the audience.

It was a very female-dominated audience. Lots of girls in the venue, not too many males. Definitely go see Iron & Wine if you get a chance. Don’t be deceived by some of the slower radio ballads, there’s some intense heavy stuff on their discography!

Ben Harper was another really good show I went to. I’ve seen Ben Harper before so I know how excellent he is in person. He’s got such an awesome selection of slow/intense love/angry songs, and also lots of rock and groove songs. It was another summer show so it was perfect for the outdoors, and it’s always nice to see everyone dressed in summer clothes. 

Ben Harper has some of the most emotional music I’ve heard in ages – he can go from heartbreaking to delighted – in just a song or two. He can belt it out with the best of them… and he isn’t getting any younger. Go check out Ben Harper and be blown away.

I’ll mention Soundgarden as a favourite as well, although my friend gave me a ticket and I probably would not have purchased one for myself (they were over $100 for most good seats). I have always liked Soundgarden, but I didn’t think I’d ever see them play. There were definitely a lot of 70s and 80s babies in the crowd, and not too many younger people. My friend and I saw the show from the floor and got pretty close (always trying to get the full experience) and it was very impressive up close. It was definitely a show for fans… and many of the singles were stretched out to 15minutes in length or more.

I have heard many complaints about the Soundgarden show from other friends who went, and a major complaint was that it all sounded very… soundboarded/digitized/technologically meddled with. I would agree that the guitars were VERY high on distortion, but I don’t really think that necessary made it unpleasant. 

The most unpleasant part of the show was their encore (after a few encore songs) they broke out into a highly distorted guitar wail that lasted a good 10minutes, and then they left the stage. I saw many people surrounding me with their hands clapped over their ears and most people left.

For classic rock bands like this, definitely see them… even if you don’t think they’d be any good anymore (I’d go see Bob Dylan if he came and if I could afford tickets), it’s more for the experience anyway. 

The Black Angels were good too, but they wouldn't make my favourite list. 

I already have a concert review of the Sheepdogs show that I went to in December, so there’s no need going into how good they are… but not every show can be a favourite! 

I am super grateful that I am lucky enough to live in a city where major bands frequent. Hopefully there’ll be even more shows next year! I already bought my ticket for Band of Skulls, so I’m already itching for more shows…

Concert Review: The Sheepdogs 2011

Every year, the only rock radio station in all of Vancouver hosts the Santa Fox Ball (a Christmasy concert with all their ‘battle-of-the-bands’ winners – called Seeds Bands - and a headliner).

Last night I was lucky enough to go! Apparently tickets for this year’s show sold out in 15 minute so I was definitely on the computer bright and early with my finger poised over the keys…

So the show was at the Commodore, a very mellowed out venue in the downtown area. It has a giant dance floor in front of a raised stage, and seating around the stage area for those who wish to drink, eat, or just bum around. It also has a second floor with more seating and two more bars, and for short people (like me) to actually see the opening bands before I head down into the chaos for the main show.

There were 5 bands altogether that played, the three Seeds Bands (Head of the Herd, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and Louder than Love), the opening band (Monster truck), then the main headliner the Sheepdogs.

The Sheepdogs don’t get a lot of radio play so they’re not huge, but they have awesome 80s rock n’ roll and groovy songs.

By the way, a great free music streaming website is www.grooveshark.com: they have every album by nearly every artist – even rare ones – and you can stream their music. So go check out the Sheepdogs!

So onto the concert itself… I’ll try to keep it brief.

Head of the Herd played first, and they were all dressed in the same outfit (black suspenders over white shirts) and they were good! A crunchy 70s-80s vibe, and the lead singer definitely had some swagger in his step. They had a female keyboardist that people seemed to respond well to, as well.

Gentleman Prefer Blondes played second, and I did not like their style of music. They were grungy 70s music (very unintelligible and loud yelling). Just not my cup of tea, though I may have enjoyed them much more if I were in my angsty grade-8 phase. Plus, it definitely didn’t suit the type of demographic that were there for the Sheepdogs, but since they always host the Seeds Bands there’s no avoiding that. 

Following that, Louder than Love played. Another friend said they were good, and they were certainly catchy. They had some solid rock beats, and one point about all the lead singer’s voices is that they were quite similar. They were growly. For an example just take a listen to anything by Avenged Sevenfold.

Monster Truck was good as well, but by this time I was a little tired and the voices were blending together. The only downside to their setlist is some of the songs sounded a little repetitive. Their setlist was stronger, it had a bigger variety of songs and got the crowd more involved. 

This image pretty much captures their essence perfectly...

Finally, the Sheepdogs! They were catchy, personable, grateful, humble, entertaining, and they rocked out. That’s pretty much all there is to say on the matter! They did a Neil Young cover and a Kinks cover and also a Black Keys cover. A lot of their songs were longer than 7 minutes or so, so it was a good groovy set.

This probably won’t be one of the top concerts of 2011, but it was fun and very festive. Everyone was very gracious and there weren’t too many douche canoe people there.

Good show! I give it a 7.8 out of 10.