On a hot, summer-like April night, the indie rock outfit Band of Horses pulled into the gorgeous Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY for a show billed as An Evening With Band of Horses: Celebrating 20 years of Everything All The Time.
To celebrate the ten year anniversary of Acoustic at The Ryman, Band of Horses uncovered a different acoustic show they recorded at the same venue in 2013 to release as Acoustic at The Ryman II. This new collection of acoustic songs are a bit more exploratory than the original and the lively crowd allow the band to dig in as they strip down.
It is of Band of Horses newest album Things Are Great.
RtBE have been fans of BoH since the beginning. Reviewed all of their albums and seen them play some great live shows. The newest album is definitely a return to form for them.
Two of the better rock acts going today will team up to tour this summer as The Black Keys hit the road with Band of Horses for a summer cross country outing.
The groups will also have a few different openers at each tour stop. Tickets go on-sale Friday, but there is a pre-sale on Thursday at 10am, Code: CURTAIN
Should be a fun night out when they hit your town this summer.
Following on the heels of one of RtBE favorites the Arctic Monkey'sannouncing a tour, we have another RtBE band we dig doing the same. Band of Horses will be touring this summer and are also in the process of recording new tunes.
The full tour dates are below, and we will be catching them in the gorgeous Capital Theater on August 10th when the tour comes (close) to NYC. Fan Pre-sale is on now, on-sale to the public on Friday. To get in the mood peep some live video of the band below:
Band of Horses — 2018 Tour Dates
4/20 – Monterrey, MX – Pal Norte Festival
4/21 – Charleston, SC – High Water Festival
7/28 – Tulsa, OK – Cain’s Ballroom*
7/29 – Wichita, KS – Cotillion Ballroom*
7/31 – Springfield, MO – Gillioz Theatre *
8/1 – Kansas City, MO – Crossroads*
8/3 – Hinterland Festival Saint Charles, IA
8/4 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Riverfront Stage – Festival Park*
8/5 – Memphis, TN – Orpheum*
8/7 – Cincinnati, OH – Bogart’s*
8/8 – Buffalo, NY – Town Ballroom*
8/10 – Port Chester, NY – Capitol Theatre*
8/11 – Portsmouth, NH – Prescott Park – Free
8/12 – Providence, RI – The Strand Theatre*
8/14 – Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony Summer Stage
8/15 – Richmond, VA – The National*
8/17 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz*
8/18 – Asheville, NC – Meadow @ Highland Brewing Co.*
The live show is a slippery thing. There are lots of variables at play, most having little to do with the performance itself. Does the venue have enough bathrooms? Is it going to rain? What day of the week is it on? Did I have a shitty day at work before hand? Did tickets cost waaay too much? All of this effects one's opinion of a live show before the band even tunes up and with reason, but when the stars align, there is no place RtBE would rather be than in the moment of magic occurring spontaneously from the stage.
Live Music Has No Equal!
Taken By The Fantastic Megan Donohue
While we can't see every show that is out there, we try our hardest to see as many as we can here at RtBE. Sure there are a few left in the calendar year, but for now, here is a listing of of the best concerts we were fortunate enough to have seen in 2016. Also because who doesn't love arbitrary rankings, one show at the bottom took the top prize as RtBE's 2016 Favorite Live Show. To continue our Best of 2016 just click that Read More button and get started
Another great year is finishing up for @RockBodElec and we wouldn't be a proper music site if we didn't end the year with a "Best Of" list, so RtBE Presents the Best of 2016 Top Ten Albums: The Just Misses & Let Downs:
In the instance that RtBE has reviewed the album either on the site or somewhere else we will link to that review and just give a quick summation, just click on the name and title and you can read it. RtBE worked with the Glide Team to give input on the their Top 20 so expect some overlap.
Again the focus here is on full albums, not singles, but full releases you can slap on and listen all the way through. We know these are a dying breed, but it still is the way we consume music, no shuffle or singles for us.
Today we are going to focus on the "Just Misses" of our top 10 and unfortunately the "Let Downs" released this year. Obviously these are just our personal preferences, feel free to voice your opinion in the comments. Expect installment 2 (#10-6) soon, but for now click on the jump:
A steamy fall night in the center of Manhattan saw a mellow crowd enter the gorgeous confines of Rumsey Playfield as White Denim was opening up for Band of Horses. The two pop rock acts that are touring behind recent releases finds the groups hopped up on good vibes.
White Denim took the stage first and played their interesting mix of jam, pop, yacht rock as they moved through their nine song set. The lounge-y, blue eyed soul vibe from "Take It Easy [Ever After Lasting Love]" was a smooth way to work out the late day blues as beer lines grew to obscene lenghts (can Central Park please get some more vendors?!?!) . The energy got more raucous in a "Radar Love" way for closer "Holda Love (I'm Psycho)" jacking things up to fist pumping levels before ending their brief set.
The New York Night was ready for South Carolina based five piece to take the stage. Opening on a relaxed vibe Ben Bridwell let his pedal steel and gorgeous vocals soar over the restrained "Monsters". Not the expected opening, but the scene was set for a great show as the band kicked it up on "The First Song", which was really second on this night. The band is on tour for their recent Why Are You OK? but those songs did not feature much on this night. "Casual Party" and "Hag" were played early with "Throw My Mess Around" and "In A Drawer" mid-set, but the band seemed to be interested in showcasing their older songs.
The group sounded well oiled as "The Great Salt Lake" rolled out over the city (and Bridwell urged us all to wake up), while "Laredo" got things two stepping and "Detlef Schrempf" eased out into the now cooling night air. The band has a talent to make some of the simplest songs sound vital, what they don't normally do is cover other artists, so it was a great surprise to hear "Powderfinger" get shot off the stage. While not the feedback driven solo fest Neil Young and Crazy Horse may pull out, the band put its clean pop driven stamp on the song, providing an engaging twist on the original.
That began a closing run of some of the groups best numbers with an emotional "Marry Song", the always rousing "General Specific", the burning "Is There A Ghost?" and the slap happy "Weed Party". Closing with a mega "Funeral" the band proved once again that they are a blast live and no matter how restrained their studio albums are, they can still engage proper in the live setting.
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Support both of the bands, peep some video from the show below:
For the last few records Band of Horses has produced some Crosby Stills and Nash levels indie folk and while there is more energy present on their newest release Why Are You OK, a dull sense of boredom has also creeped onto the disk. Produced by Jason Lytle of Grandaddy who tries to spice things up with some freak-out details (conversations happening just behind songs, the odd fluttering space oddity) but the band seems to have been there and done this all before.
It opens with the combo of "Dull Times/The Moon" trying to encapsulate all of the better aspects of Band of Horses, but does it with two total different tracks, Frankenstein-ing them into one long effort. The two parts would be more interesting if the harder electric rock of The Moon was worked into Dull Times, but the band hasn't done that truly successfully for a few albums now.
Brian Bridwell still maintains one of the prettiest voices in rock and roll and he manages to pull off the same trick as late day David Byrne; singing bland lyrics, gloriously. The words could mean nothing (and often they feel like they do) but the overall sound of things is hypnotic in an easy guitar folk way and that lets the album roll by effortlessly if not memorably.
The band actually feels the most energized and fresh when they up their country twang by injecting a shuffle and some buzzing guitars. "Country Teen" is a winner, surprisingly (all though his songs where the highlight of Mirage Rock as well) sung by Tyler Ramsey. "Throw My Mess" also gets a southern injection of South Carolina stomp, showing the possibility for this band to break out more steel guitars and upbeat country numbers.
The overly dramatic tracks go nowhere, such as "Hag" and "Barrel House" weighing down the disk. Most songs run in the four and half minute range, but because of sparse instrumentation they can feel even longer and drag. Both "Casual Party" and "Solemn Oath" try to amp up the musical energy while lyrically dealing with what sounds like the beginning and the middle of a bad break up.
Closer "Even Still" goes back to the long winded but pleasant dramatic songwriting but it is the oddball pop of "In A Drawer" that may sum up this record best. The group brings in a friend, none other than J. Masics to help sing on the chorus which is a bit maddening; if you have one of the best rock guitarists alive helping out (also one clearly not known for his vocals), how about having him play his ax and add some new life to your songs? It is these decisions that lead to an overall frustrated experience regarding Why Are You OK and while not a bad record it still comes off as a disappointment.
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We here at RtBE love BoH and have written about them, but this one wasn't our favorite. Still, support the band, buy the record and peep some video below. They also play Summer Stage for our NYC readers on Thursday and we will be there.
One of our favorite bands who we have been missing lately has been Band of Horses. With that long of a layoff, you never know if the band is staying together, very happy they did as Why Are You OK? coming out this month.
The band has let a few tracks come out and the first is "Casual Party". You can hear it below (and watch the crazy facking video as well). We can't wait to hear the whole album as we are never really bowled over by their singles and enjoy the full album process with this band a lot more.
Wow, @glidemag, has it really been 10 years since I first contributed to the website?
That is hard to believe, time flies. In chatting with the sites
fantastic editor, Shane Handler, about this series it turns out I have
been the longest continual contributor to Glide,
that's a fun feat. It continues to be a great ride but since everyone
likes round numbers, I decided to take some time to look back at my
favorite writings for the site.
For our final installment we want to focus on the piece we go back to the most and the one we were the most proud to work on, as we helped shape Glide's List of the Best Albums of The Decade.
Well "predicted" may be a bit strong, no research is really going into
this, perhaps wish list would be a more accurate title. The 2014 New Orleans Jazzfest will announce it's roster of artists tomorrow, which is pretty exciting as it confirms spring is just around the corner. Like we did last year we will put together who we think will/is/should be playing the best festival in America.
Heard the rumors that AF will be headlining Jazzfest this year. RtBE's guess is that it will be on the Saturday Second weekend, which seems to always be the big indie band slot. I wouldn't mind catching their theatrical rock and roll live, but I may also catch an act on the second stage depending on the lineup...(which won't be announced til much closer too)
There always has to be one old big name, he hasn't played the fest since 09...why not Uncle Neil and maybe you can throw the Horse in that pipe dream?
Really that's just a list of bands we love that are currently touring nationally. All the local bands are the real draw of the fest and acts that never leave the area, but we will give special love to one:
Gotta end with one of personal
favorite NOLA acts. Here's hoping they get back on the bill...or better
yet just throw down a late night get down!
We will end with, quite simply we don't care who plays. We
will love it and we will happily enjoy whoever is playing. The city has our heart, the people there are the greatest, the food/drink lives in our dreams all year and Jazzfest is the one trip we can't do without. See you, and hopefully some of those bands up there, in the racetrack and around the Quarter.
Also linked from that site are some new songs that may or may not end up as BoH tunes, we already love "Throw My Mess Around" after only a few listens. It is great to hear them working Ben working these tracks out. One of our favorite shows in recent memory was the band's unprecedented Hammerstein Ballroom gig where it felt like you were with the band through thick and thin as they were just having a blast.
I am sure these shows were and will be even cooler on such a small scale. Here's hoping that new BoH album is out next year. You can stream some the tracks below as well or check out his soundcloud page:
Last year we searched the murky back waters of youtube to find full concerts and posted them to the site monthly. That was all well and good but this year RtBE is upping the ante with a show every week to celebrate Full Show Friday's.
These shows are of varying quality and may not be here for long so
enjoy them while you can...As always, please support the artist every
which way, but especially by seeing them live (if they are still
playing)...This week...Band Of Horses!
Well with the running of the ponies upon us and August being a month we are focusing on some of our favorite Full Show Friday'sBand of Horses was the perfect choice for today. This show sounds and looks gorgeous as it is pro shot from the Rockaplast in 2010. The band was just about to release Infinite Arms and was in a mellow mood but the sound and singing here is just glorious.
Using the pipe organ to kick things off with "Detlef Schrempf" was a unique touch as the band eases in gracefully to their set with perhaps their most popular tune next "No One's Gonna Love You More Then I Do."
Other set highlights are the upbeat "Is There A Ghost?" the blindingly pretty "Infinite Arms" and of course "The Funeral". Too bad the band didn't professionally video the show we caught at Hammerstein because it is going to be hard for them to top that night, but today's show does hit all the right notes. Sometimes Band of Horses just sooth the soul, so for those of you who aren't joining us drinking and gambling for charity, let this set be the spiritual restoration.
Enjoy:
Setlist:
Band of Horses 14. April 2010 - Cologne/Köln, Kulturkirche
1. Detlef Schrempf 0:46
2. No One's Gonna Love You 6:03
3. Factory 10:34
4. Laredo 14:51
5. Great Salt Lake 18:00
6. Is There A Ghost 24:12
7. Weed Party 27:37
8. Older 31:05
9. Infinite Arms 34:34
10. A Song For You 38:49
11. Marry Song 43:22
12. The Funeral 47:42
13. LRC 53:51
14. General Specific 58:26
15. Evening Kitchen 1:01:46
16. Monsters 1:06:17
It is of Band of Horses epic double bill at the Hammerstein Ballroom on 12-11-12 in NYC.
We talked about this one a bit already as we had to give it special billing in our Favorite Shows of 2012 post. This is the full review though, you can see they played every song in their catalog except "Islands on the Coast" for some reason.
If you are a fan of the band and had tickets to both shows you can simply not ask for anything more. Intimate acoustic, loud rocking, the night had it all last way into the next morning. Not known particularly as a great live band shows like this could really change that and hopefully open Band of Horses up to being more adventurous.
This show was a doozy, pure Boosh, as you can tell. Below are a few samples of videos people took. Thanks to the band for putting on a great night of music, and for Hammerstein for hosting.
"Wicked Gil" Acoustic Set
"Feud":
A rare treat, "I Go To The Barn Because", first time played and Bridwell struggles with it, but has the complete support of the crowd.
Here is the group's completely off the cuff take on "Simple Man", super cool:
"Knock Knock" gets Mirage Rock started, well...in rocking fashion, but that is not the path the rest of the album takes, and thus the title is perfectly apt. Mirage Rock and Celebration Rock from Japandroids are two albums that you can instantly judge by their titles, a rare trait. It is amazing how much Band of Horses channels the mellow vibe of 70's So-Cal rock of acts like Jackson Browne or more specifically CSNY on their newest release, this album could have just as easily come out in 74 as 2012.
The calling card of CSNY, and Band of Horses here, is the pristine vocal work and soothing melodies that float out behind them. Ben Bridwell has one of the best front-men voices out there in popular rock today, and with Mirage Rock he has put together his most consistent lyrical effort, moving from scattered images and phrases to introspective thoughts and phrases. The best example is on the excellent "How To Live" singing here about real world issues convincingly and finishes the song with one of the best coming of age lines, "Guess what? You're growing old/Still gotta grow up" simple, direct and spot on.
The albums smooth sounds washes over the ears with perfect ease. The gorgeous, past looking "Slow Cruel Hands Of Time" has a country fried twang as "A Little Biblical" holds on to a bit of easy listening swagger before "Electric Music" picks up speed out on the open road. The Tyler Ramsey tune "Everything's Gonna Be Undone" is a simple ode that works beautifully in the context of the rest of the tracks connecting wonderfully with the aching album closing "Heartbreak On The 101".
The only time the band gets noisy or loud is on the odd "Dumpster World" which probably contains the most interesting musical tone on the album, but the down right stupidest lyrics. It is an odd one all around, proving the band can still rough it up a bit, but just toss away any sense of meaning with the weird words. That along with the "Light-Fm'ish" feel at times are the only real detriments to a solid, if mellow, release.
The band already has a fantastic back catalog of music and hopefully they don't completely slip into middle age as a rocking Band of Horses still has just as much appeal as a Mirage Rock'ing one.
________________________________________________________________ RtBE loves Band of Horses immensely and will be seeing them 3 times in less then a week and this album is pretty great. However, we really wanted to have the boys start messing up their musical backing with more angular riffs, maybe some feedback or distortion to go along with their fantastic vocals. That was not the case as the group went even more mellow this time, but alas the end result is no means bad, just a bit different.
The truth is we can't get enough of the band, so anything they are putting out we will probably like, but here's hoping they up the energy on the next release. You should support this band here, catch them live here and Stream the full album below!
Happy Black Friday Funday! Wouldn't you know it, RtBE has a present for you...one of our favorites, Band of Horses partnered up with their friend and current tourmate Jason Lytle to produce a cover of another one of RtBE's favorites, Townes Van Zandt!
That is quite a trio, and the most beautiful thing? The cover is good...and free! You can stream the song below and just click here to capture the song for yourself.
Nice job fellas, you can catch both acts on tour now, we will be seeing them in NYC for a few shows then down in Philly and will also have a Mirage Rock review for you next week so more BoH Boosh-ness on the horizon.
We have been digging on Mirage Rock (review coming soon) and can't wait to catch the boys live again...their 4 song set at Global Fest just wasn't enough.
Pre-sale tickets for both the acoustic show and the electric show on the 11th go on-sale tomorrow so keep an eye peeled. Here is some live acoustic BOH in the fricking mountains to get you juiced:
One of the coolest NYC events of the year (and maybe longer) happened this past Saturday when the Global Poverty Project staged a benefit concert on the Great Lawn in Central Park. If you haven't heard about the project please take sometime before checking this out to see what they are all about, not much of a better cause out there to support then this one.
Before this show was even announced my friends and I had gone ballistic with the idea of seeing Jack White on the 29th at Radio City Music Hall, so when the GCP was announced we were hoping for an early start time so we could catch everyone. It was not to be, so do to scheduling constraints we decided to hit the park for 2 of our favorites here at RtBE, Band of Horses and The Black Keys.
We walked through the maze of security to get to the Great Lawn literally just as Ben Bridwell and company started up with their new single "Knock Knock". The lawn was spacious at the time (it would fill up more as the night progressed, 60,000 was the official number) and the band seemed super excited to be playing even if they suspected the people might not have been there for them particularly. I was and was somewhat disappointed the band only got to showcase 4 songs.
"The Great Salt Lake" was next and splashed mega waves of sound all over the great lawn. Bridwell then told the crowd, "We have to play our best songs even if they are sensitive" before dropping into "No One's Gonna Love You". The band then concluded this mintiest of sets with an epic version of "The Funeral".
John Legend then took the stage and did a cover of "Imagine" before guest speakers and awards were brought out. Olivia Wilde came out and said she was only there for one reason, to see the Black Keys. Judging by the crowd, t-shirts and a few conversations with fellow fans I think most in attendance were there to see The Foo Fighters though.
After a few speeches and awards the Black Keys took the stage and played for over an hour, focusing mostly on their last two albums but spicing in some old tunes along the way. The band was a four piece for most of the show as guitarist Dan Auerbach told Central Park, "Let's Get it Moving!" before launching into "Howlin' For You". The fuzz drenched bass and crunchy guitar dominated the sound which was pretty perfect given the size and scope of the event, the camera shots from behind the band during "Next Girl" showed just what a dynamic view the performers had on this night.
"Run Right Back" was upbeat where "Same Old Thing" took on sludge rock and succeeded. "Little Black Submarines" got the biggest reaction from the crowd as the band played the El Camino hit. The group turned up the juice for "Money Maker" and "Strange Times"possibly sensing their set was coming to an end. "Long Gone" showcased Auerbach's fiery riffs while "Lonely Boy" was a hip-shaking pedal fest. The band then slimmed down to a duo for the closing "I Got Mine" which turned out to be the set highlight with a huge solo as the darkening sky lit up with lights, hand claps and electric guitar. A powerful set from a powerful band, IMO much better then their MSG show from earlier in the year.
Due to time constraints we walked out post Black Keys but left on a high after the phenomenal performance and knowing Jack White was in our future...little did we know that future would be only around 50 minutes....anyway, it is hard to complain at all after digesting that great musical day. Below are clips from Band of Horses and the full set from The Black Keys
Band of Horses
"Knock Knock"
"The Funeral"
Click read more for the Full Black Keys Set From the Show!!!
Below you will find RtBE favorite Band of Horses who stopped by David Letterman's Studio and performed a full set of material yesterday for their fans. It is no secret that we here love BOH and are very excited for the new album which is out today.
You can grab the new record here! And Enjoy the band's most recent live set, showcasing the new album, below:
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