Backseat Sandbar

Here are videos from Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s set last Saturday at Skull Alley. Re-live the entire show! And in HD too!
See our review, pics and more videos HERE.

Setlist:
1. Ice Cream Truck
2. Optimist Vs. The Silent Alarm
3. Man O’ War
4. White Corolla
5. White On White
6. I Love Creedence
7. Traveling Salesman’s Young Wife Home Alone On Christmas In Montpelier, VT
8. Young Shields
9. Calloused Fingers Won’t Make You Strong, Edith Wong
10. Harsh The Herald Angels Sing
11. Love Connection
12. Scattered Pearls
13. White Jetta
14. Toby Take A Bow
15. New Year’s Kiss

The Ladybirds will be rocking the rooftop of Glassworks this Thursday night! Playing alongside The Ladybirds will be DJ Matt Anthony and Woodrow on the Radio. Thursday’s forecast calls for partial clouds and around 80 degrees, which should be a perfect night to hang out on the rooftop and enjoy a rock-n-roll party time!

Important information:
The Ladybirds are great
Doors @ 7:30
Music@ 8:00
Cost is $5
Cash bar
All ages

Address:
815 W. Market St. Louisville, KY (Thanks Google map!)

See you there.

Our Tent (it was as small as it looks)…

Storm Rolling in (or out)…

Hank excited to see the Beastie Boys…

Nick also excited to see the Beastie Boys…

Which Stage (the second biggest one)…

Flava-Flav!

Never got to ride the Ferris Wheel…

Hank in an attempted “bad ass” pose…

It was packed (80,000ish)…

Random art…

My Morning Jacket’s Patrick Hallahan enjoying TV on the Radio…

Awesome headliners and Phish…

Crystal Castles Craziness…

That Tent may have been my favorite…

The Shroom Shower…

Yes, there was a fire circus…

Random guy decided to take the stage with Ben Sollee…

Saturday’s show at Skull Alley was an amazing time.  As part of our goal in bringing incredible talent to Louisville, Backseat Sandbar brought you a lineup blending national act, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, established Louisville band, Chemic, and the new but extremely promising You’re My Density.  You’re My Density was playing its first show and a played to a packed room of eager fans.  While there may have been some nerves before the show, they absolutely rocked it.  You would have had no idea it was their first show.  The sound was tight and the crowd definitely got behind them.  I love thier CD, but their live show was equally, if not more, impressive.  While the cd demo consisted only of one member, the full band has since joined to create for a much more complete sound.  You will start seeing more and more of these guys around town, so I strongly encourage you to check them out.  YMD’s next show is a Forecastle After-Party at Derby City Espresso on July 10th with The Pass.  It’s $5 bucks and starts at 10pm.  Don’t miss it.

Chemic went on second and put on the best show I’ve seen them play.  There is a lot to say about growing as a band the more you play and Chemic is a perfect example.  They just got back from an extensive midwest tour and fine tuned their performance.  It was energized and almost impossible to stand still to.  The crowd started off with the standard head bob, but progressed down to their feet and incited dancing.  They are peaking at just the right time as they will be playing at the Forecastle Fest and the MidPoint Music Fest in Cincy.

The man of the hour(s), Owen Ashworth a/k/a Casiotone for the Painfully Alone, took stage last and gave the crowd exactly what they wanted.  He played a lot from his new album Vs. Children as well as a few from another recent single/unreleased collection, Advanced Base Battery Life, including my favorite “White Corolla.”  Owen in not only talented, but a truly great guy.  He was constantly interacting with the crowd as he does, and in the past he has even taken requests via email before a show.  He took a few requests at the show and he even brought a big fan of his on stage toward the end of his set and let her sing a song with him. It was one of the earlier shows on his extensive international tour, but he let us all know that this was “the best show of the tour.”   He stuck around after and signed some autographs.  I picked up Advanced Base Battery Life and got it signed!  It’s spinning right now.

Thanks to everyone who came out and to everyone who helped with the show.  We’ll do it again soon!

more pics and video below the break…

(more…)

I reluctantly headed out to 4^th Street Live last Thursday for the Bacardi sponsored MSTRKRFT set as a part of Bacardi’s ‘B-LIVE’ concert series. “Never would you come here for any other reason”, I kept telling myself. I dig MSTRKRFT… really anything with Jesse F. Keeler’s name on it. But was this trek to 4^th Street Live too much? Could the show please be somewhere else?

I know I wasn’t alone in asking these questions. But let me tell you the result.

I now believe that a certain area of the downtown ‘metropolis’ is capable of housing an incredible show. Cringe.

The environment was perfect for the blasts of  ‘boom. boom. boom.’ coming over the house speakers by way of the group’s small MacBook. They pulled a great crowd, and satisfied fans on all fronts with remixes from Daft Punk, Justice, Fatboy Slim, Queen (who would have thought you could rage to ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’?), and many others. For the duration of the show the music didn’t stop once, a feat I’ve never personally lived to see until now. Local barhoppers from the 40,000 bars on 4^th Street Live were drawn outside by the noise, many taking to their tables for further dance space.

It was quite the scene.

Travel far to go see MSTRKRFT.

But if you must settle on 4^th Street Live to see them… no worries. It’s not so bad.

Cringe.  

more pics below the break…

(more…)

Scott Kirkpatrick of Louisville’s Chemic and Bro. Stephen joined us for the fifth episode of our “A Six Pack with…” series.  Chemic just played with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone last night and will be playing at the Forecastle Festival and the Midpoint Music Festival.  Scott is a truly great singer/songwriter and we’re psyched he sat down with us.

Six Pack: Smithwicks (last second audible)

PAST EPISODES

EPISODE I- Mat and Joe of Karate Body Records

EPISODE II- Jeff Smith of Crash Avenue Publicity

EPISODE III- Myron Koch of the Peak Summit Festival

EPISODE IV- Ryan and Jeremy of Jangle and Roar Records

We know you’ve been waiting all week for this one.  Tonight, 8pm, Skull Alley, it goes down.  ackseat Sandbar is pleased to present Casiotone for the Painfully Alone with Louisville’s Chemic and You’re My Density for a scant $5.

We know the economy’s tough and your softball team hasn’t been playing great, and, well let’s face it, the cat just ain’t eatin’ as much as you’re used to.  So you might as well celebrate the return to Louisville of CFTPA along with two great local acts.  Don’t forget your relatives and we’ll see you there.

Hours after first hearing the announcement, I’m still left feeling as though it cannot really be true…that the King of Pop has died today June 25, 2009 and all of a sudden I feel like I might know what Don McLean felt like when he was writing American Pie…and that today might have been the day that the music has died.  Pitchfork listed some interesting tweets by high profile musicians on their thoughts on MJs death.

Whether or not you’ve tempered your view towards Michael over his antics in later years, virtually everyone has been positively profoundly affected by Michael’s career. I recall as a child when I’d first heard Thriller, I would recreate the music video, using styrofoam mattresses that I’d found to be the ground through which I was breaking when coming back to life. In fact, I still dream of one day owning a red leather jacket like the one he wears in the video.  It’s hard to imagine that the 25th Anniversary of that album was released just last year.  Some months ago I was ecstatic to get a copy of it on vinyl and practically wore it through.  I can’t help but to feel strangely affected by this.  I’ve spent my entire life under Michael’s rule and the memories and his music will last long after he’s gone (as it largely has already done), but that the day has come feels so incredibly eerie.

As you might expect with a character as controversial as MJ had become over the last few years, not everyone was spilling forth positive words.  Particularly, Perez took time out of his schedule to show just how much of a pig he can be.

On the other side of things, Andrew Sullivan at The Atlantic had some very interesting words to say about MJ and they’re worth reading.

There are two things to say about him. He was a musical genius; and he was an abused child. By abuse, I do not mean sexual abuse; I mean he was used brutally and callously for money, and clearly imprisoned by a tyrannical father. He had no real childhood and spent much of his later life struggling to get one. He was spiritually and psychologically raped at a very early age – and never recovered. Watching him change his race, his age, and almost his gender, you saw a tortured soul seeking what the rest of us take for granted: a normal life.

But he had no compass to find one; no real friends to support and advise him; and money and fame imprisoned him in the delusions of narcissism and self-indulgence. Of course, he bears responsibility for his bizarre life. But the damage done to him by his own family and then by all those motivated more by money and power than by faith and love was irreparable in the end. He died a while ago. He remained for so long a walking human shell.

I loved his music. His young voice was almost a miracle, his poise in retrospect eery, his joy, tempered by pain, often unbearably uplifting. He made the greatest music video of all time; and he made some of the greatest records of all time. He was everything our culture worships; and yet he was obviously desperately unhappy, tortured, afraid and alone.

I grieve for him; but I also grieve for the culture that created and destroyed him. That culture is ours’ and it is a lethal and brutal one: with fame and celebrity as its core values, with money as its sole motive, it chewed this child up and spat him out.

I hope he has the peace now he never had in his life. And I pray that such genius will not be so abused again.

MSTRKRFT, the electronic duo from Toronto that features Death from Above 1979′s Jesse F. Keeler will perform at Louisville’s 4th Street Live TONIGHT (June 25) as part of Bacardi’s B-LIVE tour. Best part, it’s FREE. The show begins at 9:00 with Los Angeles based DJ Z-TRIP. This show is absolutely not to be missed. There’s never been a more perfect Friday morning to call in sick to work.

Pre-MSTRKRFT, we’ll be hanging out at Skull Alley for another great show… Julie Doiron, Second Story Man, and Egret. This show begins at 7:00 and costs $6 at the door. Come catch some great music at Skully’s before it turns up at 4th Street Live with MSTRKRFT.

Come on… 2 different shows… you spend $6 for the whole evening… I even hooked up this Google Map from Skull Alley to 4th Street Live for your comfort and convenience. It’s THAT easy. Now you really have no excuse.

Seriously, it’s MSTRKRFT.

MSTRKRFT- Easy Love [audio=http://audiomuffin.com/music/temp/mstrkrft-easy-love.mp3]

It seems quite fitting that a band called US Royalty sprung up in Washington DC where everyday life cannot be separated from our country’s political structure.  I’m not quite sure what it takes to be considered royalty in this country, but stunning crowds with raucous, guitar-fueled catchy pop songs and an explosive live show is probably as good start as any.  Though the band has only been around since early ’08, this band led by brothers John and Paul Thornley has been making waves and catching ears all over the place from SXSW, Spin, Nylon, and Brightest Young Things.  Comparisons of the band range from The Beach Boys to Cold War Kids to The Killers to Okkervil River.  Needless to say, this is one band that you will have you dancing and wishing you knew every word.

[vimeo=http://www.vimeo.com/1979966]

Most of Louisville’s introduction with DJ Jesse Jamz (Jesse See Tai) was as the third member of the two-man band The Photographic.  Jesse did all of the video editing for the projections that turned The Photographic  from a good instrumental band to an instrumental band that blew folks away with their visceral live show.  BUT, these days JJ has made his own name for himself as absolutely one of the hottest and most sought-after DJs of the region.  He regularly spins next to VHS or Beta DeeJays and has saddled up with acts like Flosstradamus and played parties all over the country.  He is becoming more and more well-known for slinging sweet remixes of Figure, Hollywood Holt, Eli Smith, Digitalism, and more.  Louisville’s DJ culture has been expanding and growing, and it looks like black horse DJ Jesse Jamz is the new kid king.

BEN SOLLEE

SEE FULL REVIEW AND VIDEO HERE

TED LEO

We followed up Sollee’s lovely noon performance with one of my favorite acts of 03 -04.  Ted Leo’s been at this thing since 1991 and shows no signs of slowing down.  His set blitzed through the whole catalog ending with two tracks from the fantastic 2001 release The Tyranny of Distance:  “Timorous Me” and “Stove by a Whale.”  Leo gave birth to hyper-literate indie rock with lyrics that take multiple listens to peel through.  Couple this with Leo’s insatiable work ethic and you’ve got a punk rock institution.  He’s the closest thing indie rock has to Bruce Springsteen – relentless energy, non-stop touring, and a catalog of tunes touching on the disparity and inconsistencies in the American dream.  After a moment of tuning, Leo seemed flummoxed and turned to the audience, shrugging and said “good enough for punk rock.”  Well, Leo, you were good enough to us as well.

ERYKAH BADU

Undoubtedly my highlight of Bonnaroo.  Badu’s fame as a queen of hip-hop is well deserved.  She commanded her band with the sort of rigour that recalled James Brown, repeatedly yelling “stop” or “wait” the band would turn on a dime while she churned out invigorated tunes from her latest LP New Amerykah Part One (4th World War). Channeling her inner George Clinton, Badu’s performance was part confessional, part political, part space-age jam fest.  But, what stuck out more than anything else was her presence, her voice, her unwaivering dedication to hip-hop – bigger than religion, bigger than the government.  But it wasn’t just about Badu – her set dug deep into her catalog and dusted off the Sugarhill Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” and NWA.  Let’s be honest, there are a ton of white kids at Bonnaroo.  And our seats, the closest we had at the big stage, was evidence to how few folks attended.  Still, props to the Bonnaroo staff for bringing one of the most innovative, original acts of the past 15 years to play a demographic who are probably only familiar with her as the mother of Andre 3000 & Common’s children.  Her performance on Sunday, I’m sure made Badu step out from any shadow that those unfamilar with her work may have had.  Highlight of the highlight:  “Me” as a jazzy flute bumping confession complete with middle finger on “This is my last interview.”

ANDREW BIRD

At a festival, timing is everything.  A band that may have blown you away on your own pales in comparison to what you just saw.  In this case, walking out of Badu listening to that moment when the sound blends from Badu to Bird was an incredible experience.  However, after seeing the soul-funk analog space-stress rock the stage for an hour, Bird’s classical folk rock seemed underwhelming.  His stop-start of “Skin Is” was thankfully over shadowed by the soaring of “Fake Palindromes.”  Looking back on it, if this concert let me down, it had more to do with Badu’s excellence than Bird’s accumen.  And if anything, it made me appreciate the diversity of Bonnaroo’s lineup.

NEKO CASE

Oh Neko!  Goddman those Phish heads that made us freak out about the fact that we were blocked in and may not be able to leave.  Goddamn Snoop Dogg who “was 5 miles away and will get here when he gets here” which meant that he showed up during Case’s set and made the songs sound more like mashups than Case’s acutal writing.  Had it not been for these things, we would have stayed for the whole set!  What’s that?  You’re coming to Louisville.  Well, thanks for the amazing amuse bouche, we’ll be sure to pay better attention next time we see you.  Oh, and “Deep Red Bells”…unbelieveable.  Thanks for capping off the festival.