Sweet free show: Tower of Power in Hamden this Friday

This Friday, Tower of Power will be playing a free show as part of the Hamden Arts Commission's 2010 Free Summer Concert Series. The concert's at 7:30 p.m. at Town Center Park at Meadowbrook, 2761 Dixwell Avenue. Parking's at the middle school, which is right down the road.

Here's the link to the Hamden Arts Commission website: http://www.hamdenartscommission.org/concerts.html

We went to see Daryl Hall two weeks ago at Town Center Park, and it's a great venue. A big stage at the bottom of a hill and plenty of space for families to set up with lawn chairs and picnics. Also, there are lots of vendors. This should be a good time.

Review: The Flaming Lips - 7/24

The Flaming Lips concerts are worth every penny spent, and ever mile traveled. This show at Mountain Park in Holyoke, Mass. was my fourth Flaming Lips show - the other three I've experienced were in New York City, Boston and Madrid - and this was probably top two because we were so close to the stage. Also, it was the first time I'd seen them in three years, so it was even more awesome.

Wayne came out in the space ball, as he had promised before the show started, and with the epic, loud music in the background and technicolor background images, it was a great start. Add confetti and balloons and you've got yourself a party, which is what Flaming Lips concerts are like. They played all their big songs including "Race For the Prize" and "The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song" and got the audience to sing along to a heartfelt "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" and add animal sound effects to "I Can Be A Frog." After a crazy rendition of "The W.A.N.D." complete with lots of fog and flashing lights. I was having a little trouble dealing with the strobe lights, so I closed my eyes for some of it, but apparently someone in the audience had bigger problems. The show ended for some time, and Wayne came out and said they would wait for that audience member to recuperate before coming out again. When they were ready, they came out with a riveting "Do You Realize."


The coolest part of the show, for me and my friends at least, had to be watching what I will call "The Sage Saga." It was Sage's 9th birthday, and her dad drove her to the show from Rhode Island. She even painted a colorful picture telling the band that it was her birthday. We were near them during the opener and Sage's dad said she loves Yoshimi. Nice. Coolest 9-year-old ever. When Wayne checked out the stage after Fang Island's set, Sage held up her poster and got a nod from Wayne. Her dad had two words for his daughter: "Mission Accomplished."

Halfway through the show, I noticed Sage and her dad had moved from their spot to stage right. Awesome. I was really hoping she'd get a "Happy Birthday" from the band, and she did. Wayne brought her to the center of the stage and the band plus audience sang "Happy Birthday" to her and a guy on the tour named Terry. Best birthday ever. I only hope that when she goes back to school and shares this story as part of what she did on her summer vacation, at least one classmate will know how cool it is.



Fang Island was the opener, and they were very fitting for the Flaming Lips. We had seen them just a few weeks before at a Brooklyn Pool Party, and they rocked it with their building riffs and overall progressive rock sound.

Review: Janelle Monae - 7/23

This was our third free show in a row, and it was by far the best. It pouring, but we had our ponchos and braved the rain at Bushnell Park because Janelle Monae is definitely worth it.

Monae came out as energetic as usual and played for what felt like an hour even though it was much longer. Her sets fly by because they're so fun and get everyone dancing. This was the perfect time to see her, too, with just a full album and an EP out. So we knew a lot of the songs. Also, I think she's getting bigger having played both the BET Awards and the ESPYs this year, so seeing her for free now is pretty fantastic. She performed an extended version of "Tightrope" complete with lots of runs and a fake ending and came out for an encore with "Many Moons." (I totally called that one since she didn't play it during the regular set.)

It was really cool seeing such a diverse crowd - with both 20-somethings from all over and area residents setting up their lawn chairs and giant umbrellas. Even the Hartford mayor came out and said this was what Hartford was all about. It was the city's 375th anniversary, and this free show was to celebrate it. It was presented by the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Hartford Party Starters Union. (Thanks, Hartford Party Starters Union, for starting so many parties!) Bushnell Park was the perfect location for a Hartford celebration because you could see a lot of the city, and the Capitol was beautiful lit up in the night.


Other performers included Cubic Zirconia, who were really cool with their dance music and spoken-word lyrics. DJ Rizzla played between some sets. Tobacco had a pretty fun DJ set. Maluca was OK with their singing and rapping over sampled music, and Holy Ghost was a really cool precursor to Janelle Monae.

Review: Daryl Hall - 7/16

We're getting really good at finding and going to awesome free shows in our area. Daryl Hall was part of the Hamden Arts Commission Free Summer Concert Series and the show was really cool. It started at 7:30 on a Friday night, and the crowd gathered in their lawn chairs with their picnics and families at Town Center Park. Sure, we didn't have Oates, but Hall still played lots of classic Hall and Oates songs, including "Kiss on My List," "Private Eyes" and "You Make My Dreams." After a fake ending, he came back for an encore including "Rich Girl." It was a whole lot of fun - and free!

Review: Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu play Joy Division 7/11

Traveled to Brooklyn on my first Sunday not working at the Bristol Press and it was a pretty good day. This was my first Brooklyn Pool Party - I wanted to go last summer and back when it was actually at a pool but was always busy or working on Sundays - and it was a nice setup with a big stage facing the waterfront and a pretty big beer garden with good views of the stage on the side. Also, it was free.

I'm a big Deerhoof fan, and I've heard that Xiu Xiu is pretty good, so I was hoping they would play some of their own songs. Unfortunately, they didn't. Playing Joy Division was cool for the classic 80s feel that all these bands are trying to capture again today, but it kind of felt like a waste that those two bands were there and didn't play any of their songs. Also, when the guy from Xiu Xiu was singing some songs, it sounded like he was trying too hard at points to imitate the guy from Joy Division.

Fang Island was one of the openers, and they were pretty epic. That's probably how you'd describe a lot of their music. It's just epic with the music constantly building. It was cool to see them before seeing them open for the Flaming Lips a few weeks later. I also really liked Why? who was really fun with their hip hop, indie feel.

While I left a little disappointed after Deerhoof and Xiu Xiu's set, I couldn't complain because the show, overall, was pretty good. And I didn't pay anything for it. And because we were in New York, we went to Katz's for lunch.

Review: Jack Johnson at the Meadows - 7/9

Rapid fire blogging - GO!

After giving back my Bristol Press laptop I have been sans computer and sometimes sans internet because my home internet provider is awful and has a monopoly on Meriden. So I haven't blogged in a while and the shows have backed up. I think I have enough time to get all these done this afternoon, so here goes:

Jack Johnson on July 9. This was my last day at work and a pretty cool way to celebrate it. The show was pretty chill. Above is a photo of the tailgating area before the show. The entire experience was pretty relaxed, and you wouldn't expect anything else from a Jack Johnson show. Inside, he played all his hits including "Bubble Toes," "Better Together" and "Upside Down" as well as new stuff from "To The Sea."

After a pretty chill show, getting out of the parking lot was pretty bad, though. We ran into some obnoxious cars with not-so-chill people yelling from their drivers' seats and traffic even after leaving the Meadows. There were fewer people here than other shows we'd been to at the Meadows, but we realized what the problem was: They crammed all of us into the upper lots because the lower lots were taken up by Cirque tents. So it took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot and then even more time to get to the highway. I hope they never do that again, but we'll see next summer.

Review: James Taylor and Carole King at Tanglewood

I don't think it really matters who I see. I mostly like going to Tanglewood for the whole lawn experience.

That being said, this was my second time at a James Taylor show there (went to the 4th of July show two years ago) and third 4th of July weekend show. The lawn is packed. And it's awesome. It's like the Dave Matthews Band tailgate crowd except fancy and more organized (we're talking picnic blankets, little tables, candles and flower vases to go along with your wine and natural food store brand crackers and chips), so it's like Dave Matthews for older people. I hope some band I like right now has enough staying power like James Taylor to stop at a place like Tanglewood for 3 sold-out shows.

He played all his classics, and he alternated with Carole King in singing by themselves or together. James Taylor gave us "Your Smiling Face" and "Fire and Rain" and sounded great. Carole King gave us "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," which a lot of women got up and danced too - some even forming groups, shouting to one another that no one else in their group wanted to dance with them. Toward the end, we got "You've Got a Friend," "How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)" and "Carolina On My Mind" from both. James Taylor always sounds the same, but Carole sounded really tired. This was her first tour in a while, even though she came out and sang at the James Taylor show two years ago, and it could be because her voice is usually hoarse, but it sounded really hoarse and strained, so I was glad she only sang for half the songs.

Yo Yo Ma made a guest appearance, which I guess I should have expected since the last James Taylor show I saw included surprise appearances by Carole King, Yo Yo Ma and John Travolta (who MCed). No John Travolta this time, but Yo Yo Ma was a great addition.

It was the 4th of July weekend, but because we went on Monday, there weren't fireworks. Still a pretty good time though. We're thinking of seeing John Williams conduct the Boston Pops for Film Night at Tanglewood this year on Aug. 14. We went to Film Night last year and got a surprise appearance by Steven Spielberg.

You can find the 2010 Tanglewood schedule here: http://www.bso.org/bso/mods/complete_season.jsp?id=bcat12400010

Free Janelle Monae show in Hartford? Yes, please!

You heard right. Janelle Monae is headlining Hartford's Still Wavy 375 show at Bushnell Park on July 23.

Here are the details:

"Still Wavy 375 is a free concert in Bushnell Park presented by the Wadsworth Atheneum and the Hartford Party Starters Union in honor of Hartford's 375th anniversary," according to the Still Wavy 375 website.

The concert goes down at 5 p.m. on July 23 at Bushnell Park in Hartford and features Janelle Monae, Holy Ghost, Tobacco, Maluca, Cubic Zirconia and DJ Rizzla.

According to the Facebook event, the concert is from 5 to 11 p.m., and there will be vendors along Trinity Street with Black Bear Saloon vending beers in the beer garden.

Sounds like a pretty sweet time!

For more information on the show or the artists playing, go to the Still Wavy 375 website: http://stillwavy375.com/
While you're there, listen to some of the songs listed on the right. I especially enjoyed the Cubic Zirconia song at the end. Played it during work yesterday.

I logged onto Twitter on Tuesday and saw CTIndie tweeted a blog post on a 375th anniversary concert, and when I looked into it, it was better than I could even imagine, and I'm really glad I found out about it. Janelle Monae is really fun live. Saw her open for Of Montreal at Toad's two years ago, and it was awesome. She's so full of energy, and she's definitely blowing up now that the ArchAndroid's out and she's performing everywhere. So this free show is an extra good deal.