I’ve been really into this band lately. I would describe them as a mix between Arcade Fire and Snow Patrol.

They are also doing a show at the El Rey in Los Angeles on August 7, 2008.

Editors Note: This review will be considered for publication in Interlude Magazine.

At 10:56 pm Ingrid Michaelson and her band launched into their set before the curtains were even drawn. Unlike other musicians that try to build that anticipation before their set, her band didn’t need it- they already had the buzz, the just needed to prove why. But, as soon as Ingrid started singing, my expectations had been met.

I read in an interview that Ingrid had originally studied drama/ musical theatre at university but ended up switching majors. This explained a lot because she has a sharp wit and confident stage personality that makes her magnetic. At one point in the show, an audience member screamed something at her. Ingrid shot back that she sounded like Little Orphan Annie and then proceeded to spout out lines from the film mimicking her. Suffice to say, she had the crowd cackling for much of the night.

Ingrid’s performances are what live shows are supposed to be - a participatory experience with an exchange between the artist and listener. In her case, she managed to get an LA crowd singing along to her songs with little effort. It seemed like the crowd was already familiar with her songs and clapped along to “The Way I Am” without being asked. As an intro to “Overboard”, she decided to quiz the audience by giving three hints and coaxed us not to give away the answer until she had finished. When the time came, most of the audience had shouted out the correct answer. On “The Hat” she asked the audience to sing the line “I should tell you that you were my first love”. Normally, asking the audience to sing anything can be a dissonant distraction. In her case, it was a beautiful addition to her vocals and drew the audience deeper into her performance.

Listening to her record, I really didn’t notice the nuances in her vocals. She creates a vibrato that reminds me a lot of Interlude cover woman Missy Higgins. Allie Moss, Ingrid’s guitarist and backing vocalist was a stellar addition to the show. Most of Michaelson’s songs have multiple vocal parts and together, they create a complex harmony superior than any loop peda or Mac effect. This is apparent in “The Chain” when guest vocalist Priscilla Ahn joined Ingrid and Allie for a singer- songwriter threesome (pun intended). The song is three part vocal canon that is a powerhouse of emotion. Dependent entirely on the vocals for impact, the piano is subtle enough to accompany without detracting from the vocals. It really takes three singers to pull this one off.

Some of my favorite songs of the night was “Masochist” and “Corner of Your Heart”. On “Masochist”, my favorite parts was when her voice drops as she finished the end of each line and the escalation at the end of the bridge. On “Corner of Your Heart”, Ingrid played piano and was accompanied by Allie Moss on backing vocals. The song deviates from her usual pop song structure to reveal the fragility in her music.

With a set clocking in over an hour and a half, the crowd never tired of her. She played nearly her entire record along with poignant covers of Death Cab for Cutie’s “I Will Follow You Through the Dark” and “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” from the Wizard of Oz. In between her stories, jokes, crowd participation, and her selection of songs, there was never a moment where I wasn’t completely engrossed.

Set List (incorrect order):

Die Alone
Breakable
Overboard (crowd quiz)
Glass
Keep Breathing
One Day (new song)
I Will Follow You Through The Dark (Death Cab for Cutie Cover)
Starting Now
What A Day (semi- new song about moving on)
Lady In Spain (ingrid on mouth trumpet + telling everyone to close their eyes)
Chain (w/ Priscilla Ahn)
The Hat (crowd sings along to the line “I should tell you that you were my first love”)
Far Away
Masochist
Something More (audience sing along girls vs. boys)
The Way I Am (crowd participation: clapping)

Encore
—————–
Somewhere Over The Rainbow
(there was another song played after this one but i might have included it above)

Opening Act: Greg Laswell

photos of Ingrid behind the cut

For those of you that read my post before last, The Ting Tings are touring! check them out if you can.

Tour Dates:
July
22 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
25 Providence, RI Club Hell
26 Albany, NY Valentine’s
27 Brooklyn, NY McCarren Park Pool w/MGMT & Black Moth Super Rainbow
30 Kansas City, MO City Market w/Gnarls Barkley & Black Lips
31 St. Louis, MO The Bluebird

August
2 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza
4 Minneapolis, MN Varsity
6 Los Angeles, CA El Rey

Editor’s Note: My review of the Priscilla Ahn show will probably be appearing in Interlude Magazine.

The show marked the day of Priscilla Ahn’s Blue Note record debut, A Good Day. Priscilla’s band consisted of two players on strings (cello, violin), upright bass/ electric bass, electric guitar, Joey Waronker on percussion, keyboards/piano/samples, and Priscilla on harmonica/ acoustic guitar/ ukulele/ kazoo. It was a feat just fitting all of her band onto the stage.

Priscilla took the stage playing “Wallflower” which set the tone her persona. She’s not overtly confident like most singers but she does exude a sweetness and endearing quality much like her music. After the first song, she jokingly warned that she was going to be playing the entire record and for people to get comfortable.

For songs like “Dream” and “Masters In China”, she applied a loop pedal to layer her vocals which coated the songs in syrupy lethargy. On “Red Cape”, Priscilla channeled The Cranberries’ Dolores O’Riordan with how she stretched her vocals and tempo. “Lullaby” showcased a beautiful string arrangement and demonstrated Ahn’s harmonizing style.

The thing that struck me the most about the show was Priscilla’s pitch and clarity in her vocals. her songs to be fatiguing at times if there aren’t enough songs to mix it up. But, the crowd requested “Boob Song” injected a little energy and amusement into her set. It was hard not to laugh at her Kazoo skills.

During Ahn’s set, it was apparent, which songs were written earlier in her career versus the newer songs because her older songs sounded more experimental and broke the mold of sleepy guitar songs. I give credit to the band members on cello/ violin and Joey Waronker’s contribution to the songs by making them more complex in arrangement and added an elegance to her otherwise gentle set.

Set List (not in the right order):

Wallflower
I Don’t Think So
Find My Way Back Home (Priscilla solo on ukulele)
Lullaby
Astronaut
Leave The Light On
Red Cape
Masters In China (cover)
A Good Day
Opportunity to Cry (Willie Nelson cover)
Dream

Encore:
Boob Song (Priscilla on kazoo)

The Ting Tings are like eating Pop Rocks. When you experience it, its not quite what you expected; in fact, its sugary perfection- with a pop and a sizzle. When you’ve gone through the pack, you realize that the fun it delivered didn’t last long enough.

The Ting Tings are comprised of Jules De Martino and Katie White. Perhaps they are best known for their song “Shut Up and Let Me Go” featured prominently in the new Apple ads. Jules plays the drums, guitar, vocals, and loops while Katie sings, plays guitar, keyboards and some percussion. The energy and noise that they brought to the stage was electric and was enough for a full band- they had the crowd completely wired from the first song. In between guitar, keys, and vocals, Katie skirted across the stage from one side to another and worked the crowd with hand claps. At one point, her mic fell to the ground and she couldn’t pick it up because she was on guitar. With no tech in site, an audience member thoughtfully picked the microphone up and placed it back on the stand just in time for her to sing the bridge.

On the better known numbers like “Shut Up And Let Me Go” and “That’s Not My Name”, Katie got surprising feedback from the crowd as they shouted back lyrics and sang backup. The pulsating beats of “Keep Your Head” kept the crowd moving and was a dance party in itself. When the duo had reached their last song, you could tell the crowd was thinking the same thing- their set flew by just under 45 minutes. Then again, all parties have to end sometime so why not on a high note?

Set List out of order

Great DJ
Fruit Machine
That’s Not My Name
Traffic Light
Shut Up And Let Me Go
Be The One
We Started Nothing
Keep Your Head
We Walk

That’s Not My Name:

There has been a lot of buzz lately surrounding Priscilla Ahn. She’s a fixture in the Hotel Cafe scene and I used to see her on backing vocals for Joshua Radin. Priscilla’s single “Dream” is just that- surreal with lush melodies and flowing strings.

I prefer the version with strings found here

Priscilla’s video for “Dream” (w/out the strings):

She’s doing some shows this month:

10 Los Angeles, CA – Hotel Café
16 New York, NY – Joe’s Pub
22 - Santa Barbara, CA - Lobero Theatre (w/ Brandi Carlisle)
23 - Santa Cruz, CA - Rio Theatre (w/ Brandi Carlisle)

Castledoor opened up the show and they were quite good live. The 6 member band was crammed onto the stage in front of the Long Blondes gear. Their EP “Follow the Dove” has been out for awhile now and is full of really great tracks. During the middle of the set, they even busted out a bubble machine that blew trails of bubbles out to the audience.

Onto The Long Blondes:

Most of the songs played were off of the new record Couples along with the hits from Someone to Drive You Home. Couples is the disco inspired/ new wave rock record while their debut is more of the pump your fist/ cool indie rock record. So, it was a nice balance to keep the crowd moving. With Screech Louder playing on such a small drum set, i wasn’t expecting so many great beats to emit- especially on tracks off of Couples where the synths seem to mask most of his work. As a front woman, Kate migrates from the yelps and wails of “Separated By Motorways” to the seductive melody on “Too Clever By Half”. She is magnetic, confident and it was obvious that she was genuinely happy to be performing in Los Angeles. I wish i could say the same about Reenie and Emma because they were demure for most of the show but the crowd didn’t mind. Some of the highlights include “Separated by Motorways”, “Century”, “Guilt”, and “Giddy Stratospheres”.

The Set List In Order:

Here Comes The Serious Bit
Weekend Without Makeup
Autonomy Boy
Round The Hairpin (kate on snare drum)
Erin O’ Connor
Separated By Motorways
I Liked The Boys
Century
Too Clever By Half
You Could Have Both
The Couples
Once And Never Again
Guilt
I’m Going To Hell
Giddy Stratospheres
——————————-
Lust In The Movies
Only Lovers Left Alive
Nostalgia

I came across Bell X1 when i was reading for the bio for the Cake Sale, a side project that released a CD for Oxfam featuring Lisa Hannigan (of damien rice’s band), Gary Lightbody (snow patrol), Gemma Hayes, Nina Persson (The Cardigans) and many more. Paul, the singer/ multi- instrumentalist of Bell X1 and the rest of the group used to be part of Juniper, Damien Rice’s band so its fair to say they sound like Damien Rice mixed with some Snow Patrol.

Set List:
Tongue
Rocky Took A Lover
Reacharound
Next To You
Rocky Took A Lover
Bad Skin Day (acoustic beginning)
Eve, Apple Of My Eye
Bigger Than Me
He Said She Said
My First Born For A Song
Lamposts
In Every Sunflower
Snakes And Snakes
I’ll See Your Heart and I’ll Raise You Mine
Flame
Alphabet Soup

The band is extremely charismatic on stage so its really hard to stop watching Paul move around. What was also great about the show was that they sounded less polished than the record and i was surprised by the percussion work.
I LOVED the version of “Bad Hair Day”. Paul started the song off solo with an acoustic guitar until the rest of the band jumped in during the bridge. This band is so talented- its only a matter of time before they get really big. Their sound is already really great for TV placement so they just need some radio play.

also worth mentioning, one of my local favorites The Submarines opened the show. They are one of the few bands that sound as sweet as they look. Be sure to check out their new masterpiece Honeysuckle Weeks out now!

coming soon:
- the dresden dolls @ The Wiltern
- The dresden dolls @ the HOB san diego
- THe Long Blondes @ The Troubadour