M.I.A./LCD Soundsystem- Metro (Sold out)

*what's really cool about MIA is the fact that this was one of the first "happening" records that i started working w/ in mid-March. the record just went to Interscope this past week...but we knew it was gonna happen. cool to be a part of something like this.

Live - Ecstatic Chicago Fans Embrace M.I.A., Won't Let Go
(from the tripwire.com)
Shoulder-to-shoulder, elbow-to-elbow, head-to-head, the crowd had packed itself so tight you hardly had room to breath. With no guard rail to separate us from the action, hordes of fervent fans desperately pushed to the front in hopes to securing a part of the floor for themselves. While the persistent pushing annoyed some, I embraced the activities as a humbling expression of unity. The evening’s events presented possibly Chicago’s most anticipated performance of the year, and somehow I had managed to finagle my way to the front. Not a single performance had begun, not even an opener, and the sold out show at The Metro was nearing capacity.

Suddenly, the house lights grew dim and from my left, Diplo could be seen casually taking his place behind the turntables. A series of catcalls swept across the crowd, only to be abruptly silenced by the peculiar voice of our president. An unusual video display projected onto a screen adjacent Diplo offered a comical image of George W. Bush behind a podium. The clever manipulation of the footage presented president Bush consistently repeating the words “MIA! MIA! MIA!,” as if the president himself had been hypnotized by the hysteria. With each repetition of the word the pace at which it was being repeated doubled, until eventually the crowd was left with a solid tone and a quavering image. Without warning, the devastating sound of an explosion ripped across the audience announcing M.I.A.’s entrance and ignited the crowd's enthusiasm with a wild display of unruly behavior.

My expectations of the performance were nothing less than flawless, and remarkably M.I.A. delivered without a hitch. Her uncanny ability to hype the crowd with her playful antics and flamboyant dance moves comforted even the lamest participants, pushing the crowd to contribute dearly to the show. Occasionally she would stop to catch her breath and share and intimate moment with the audience, before breaking back into a crowd pleaser like "10 Dollar". Diplo’s talented abilities masterfully guided the diva with a series of exquisite beats both from M.I.A.’s debut release, Arular, and from the their incredibly successful mixtape, Piracy Funds Terrorism. It would seem that M.I.A. was well conditioned for her first visit to the windy city, no doubt a result of her strenuous US tour, which allegedly ends sometime in mid June. Perhaps the highlight of this excursion is an official introduction to mainstream America via an appearance on Conan (May 27).

The show was incredible, but the icing on the cake came at the end, when the artist returned to the stage to perform an astonishing two-song encore. Granted, it was technically a co-headlining bill, but normally the encore is reserved for the last band to perform. But not last night... the crowd DEMANDED more. Tired and sweaty from a non-stop ass shaking experience, the crowd restlessly chanted word for word the lyrics to her first single, "Galang". This awesome show of pure magnitude has solidified MIA’s success in Chicago and demonstrated the power of her unique international hybrid on yet another American audience. An unprecedented performance such as this raises the bar of expectations and will undoubtedly re-route American popular culture as the MIA phenomenon prepares to give listeners an uncompromising alternative to the bland pop sensations dominating television and radio. The future of pop music? Time will tell.
-Reported by Drew Hudson on 05/20/2005

Peter Murphy- Metro

went w/ friend fellow-murph adimirer: ofelia. although he mostly did newer stuff (and nothing off my FAVE record: love hysteria...). he's still one of my favorite performers and he still sounds great.

here's a great review i saw about "murph's" recent performance at coachella...sigh.
*HE STARTED THEIR SET HANGING UPSIDE DOWN TO BELA LUGOSI'S DEAD!?!??! I WOULD HAVE EITHER THROWN UP FROM EXCITEMENT ON THE SPOT OR FAINTED...HE'S STILL THE COOLEST!!

Bauhaus
Kayt Canino(www.icecreamman.com)

How do you show that 48 isn't old, while at the same time not appearing like an aging rocker trying too hard? Try hanging upside down wrapped in black ribbons like a bat caught in a giant spider's web, and going straight for your most famous hit as the opener. With the trademark white light shining up from the stage, Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy bellowed out the long notes of "Bela Lugosi's Dead," as Kevin Haskins rim shots counted down the numbers of seconds Peter could stay suspended upside down.

Bauhaus completely ruled. Not one bad note. Not one missed beat. I think Kevin Haskins even added some equipment since I saw them in 1998, so even if he missed a beat, he'd have had 20 other drums to hit to cover it up. Daniel Ash, also thwarting middle-age, had on his "I'm-not-46-I'm-25" platform leather knee-high boots on, and gave a big finger to dudes like Bono who hide behind shades at every public appearance. David J had a verrrry expensive-looking fretless bass that he played so effortlessly I couldn't tell if he was bored or entranced by his own awesomeness.

The only cringe I made with the visuals was Peter's outfit, hair, okay the whole bit. He had on these weird pants that were really flowy and baggy at the bottom, and the kept flapping in the Indio wind. And his hair, was it white or bleached platinum? I couldn't tell. I was stuck at a point where I could barely see the stage. I'd tried to play "follow the dick" by jumping the train of people rudely pushing their way up to the front, but at one point I stepped on this girl and she said, "Hey, you're stepping on me," and I gave her a sad little cutey-wootey face and said, "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!" Then she felt bad, so I didn't feel like pushing up any farther. Throughout the entire show, in between his posing and arm-raising, Peter would climb the scaffolding tower behind him and pose up there. It doesn't sound as marvelous as it was, but looking at it during the first few songs, I couldn't help but think, "That would be so great if he climbed up on that!"

Peter Murphy did his trademark posing-in-the-white light thing and the band rocked through "God in an Alcove," which I'm sure made a lot of people who thought Bauhaus only had two albums go, "Huh?" and made the rest of go, "Sweet!" Kevin Haskins played a fast, new disco beat to "She's in Parties" as if to say, "Hey Peter, we're sorry we recorded "Burning from the Inside" without you, but check out much more awesome this song sounds than "Slow Hands!"" Thank you David J for ending the song with the dub bass line and hypnotizing us for a good 5 minutes. "Passion of Lovers" also got a new face with a decidedly faster beat and we got to see a change in the shadows on Peter's face when the lights changed to red. Daniel revealed his Love and Rockets passion for the acoustic guitar on "Silent Hedges," and Peter posed some more with his pants flapping in the wind. They ended the night with "Rose Garden Funeral of Sores" and "Stigmata Martyr," and in my mind all I could think was, "Dude, how awesome is this?" Bauhaus was by far the highlight of the evening. I think I even heard Peter say, "Hey Kayt, why don't you just go home? it's not going to get any better than this tonight."

Snow Patrol - The Vic (sold out)

got to go see one of my fav bands...was a good show and they played a few new songs too. afterwards hung out w/ my friends mike/blake from the softball team and some of their friends and we went to another bar where members of snow patrol were DJing in the back room. we all were pretty surprised at how cool it was and all agreed that moment we felt like we were in a NYC club! we all had a great time drinking, dancing, laughing etc. and all disappeared into the late night zzzzzzzzzzzz

Coldplay- Metro (sold out)