Dave Matthews Band @ Staples Center, Los Angeles 8/19

在第一首歌結束後，從Dave Matthews口中得知再也無法親臨原汁原味DMB現場的壞消息──大衛馬修樂團的founding member之一，薩克斯風手LeRoi Moore在這天下午過世。主要原因還是六月底在農場的一起意外，導致19日傍晚時刻意外地離開了這個世界。當Dave Matthews在台上宣布這個消息時，我還一度認為自己英文太破聽錯了。





一大早起床先驅車前往Century City和一個craiglist上賣票的傢伙碰面，一開始高速公路還算順暢，直到接上10號整個堵到不行。他上班的地點位在兩棟很壯觀的摩天大樓Century Plaza Towers(沒記錯的話)，停車超級貴的沒記錯20分鐘就要十幾塊美金，還好他可以幫我弄到一個小時的parking permit。才一個早上就見識到了LA恐怖的交通和高消費。

當然大老遠來到市區畢竟還是要找機會走走，聽了Ivy學姐說有個叫做The Grove的mall頗特別。坐落於戶外而且很漂亮。於是用過簡單brunch後憑著絕佳方向感搭配手工地圖前往。果不其然相當美麗，類似舊城區的街道的風格相當舒適，裡頭店家的消費也是相當具水準。

出門在外最需要的就是網路。很幸運的這而有家Apple Store，便順手查了一下附近有啥地方適合打發演唱會開唱前的時間。結果當然查來查去最後當然是樂器行雀屏中選......

據說這家是全美GC的總店。姑且不論是否有此一說法，論規模日落大道這家真的比我去過的其他四間(San Francisco, San Jose, San Bernadino and Rancho Cucamonga)大上許多。而且別具特色的entrance更是和Hollywood中國戲院前那一片地磚相呼應!

為數眾多族繁不及備載，總之熱愛音樂的朋友相當值得一來! 會有很親切的感覺(這裡我認識的似乎比中國戲院前的還多一些)。當然門面氣派店裡也是馬虎不得。不但占地之廣大，最特別的是還有一個Vintage專區! 所有的樂器都是'70以前的老琴，以Fender和Gibson居多，也有一些RickenBacker。重點這些每把都動輒$4000以上甚至上萬的老傢伙，為數之多竟比全台灣大部分樂器行，所有的展示琴加起來還多! 每一把Telecaster的maple指板都是又黃又舊，卻各有不同的陳年風味。說是這兒是小博物館真的不誇張(而且這些老琴還可以親手來試!)

離開了吉他中心當然就是一路塞車塞到Staples Center。LA市區的交通實在恐怖，好像無時無刻都是heavy traffic。不過幸運的是我仍在六點左右抵達，並且找到一個相當棒的parking, flat rate $10! (停好車走出來馬上漲到$15，噗)

演唱會當然毫無疑問的相當棒。除了聽到台上宣布LeRoi離開大家的壞消息有點難過，整場演出Dave和其他團員依然賣力演出，像是想送LeRoi最後一程，讓他能夠在有音樂的伴奏下離開。今晚的setlist其實我個人覺得普通，因為我喜歡的一些曲子如#41, Jimi Thing, Warehouse和Gravedigger都是第二天才出現 orz 但是幸好還是有聽到久違的Ants Marching現場。


Dave溫暖的歌聲配上技巧高超的樂手們層次分明的伴奏，只能說完全就是比想像中還要好聽呢。更不用說現場每首曲子皆會加入出乎意料的即興，每首歌都Jam成原曲的加長版。這次tour也找來的Dave Matthews搭配已久的好友Tim Reynolds負責電吉他的部分，開場地一曲Bartender就是Taylor 和 Fender 的12弦琴互相交織著，聲音更加飽滿，後台的技師也直呼換弦好累 XD 值得一提的是舞台設計不算太特殊，但後頭的電視牆超級清楚解析度超高，就算不是最前面的觀眾也可以把樂手的表情看得一清二楚。

隔天這場gig毫無意外上了許多媒體頭條，足見LeRoi和Dave Matthews Band在美國人心中的地位。我想從團員的組成到音樂風格都充滿了diversity，也算是美國精神和文化的一部份。當晚代打LeRoi的Jeff Coffin(Bela Flack的樂手)功力老實說個人覺得有過之而無不及，但原汁原味的大衛馬修樂團也在今天走入歷史。想起多少場live演出的影片中，那個身影和熟悉的notes將無法再被重製。不過至少我確實參與到的歷史的一瞬間吧? 整場演出Dave的話沒有很多，一切的情緒都在音樂裡了。如果你也和我一樣在現場，相信一定也會感受到的。

Rest In Peace, LeRoi Moore.

Bloc Party @ The Glass House, Pomona 7/28 (2)

Bloc Party was simply awesome.





Still remember the very first song I heard from them was This Modern Love. The guitar was beautiful (since I've been always want a Fender Telecaster.) And when it comes to the vocal, Kele did amazing job. Every words was so honest like coming from the bottom of the heart, simply catchy and outstanding. Then not to mention other hits from the album Silent Alarm. Although due to the military service restriction, I'm not that familiar with the second album. Yet their show won't disappointed me, even though the bassist Gordon is not able to join this tour. I'm so sure of that.

During the half an hour setting, me and Ashleigh kept on talking about the instruments on stage. Such as, “oh do you see Russell's Tele? So many cute stickers on the pickguard! man!......” Yeah almost crazy because we're so close to the stage and can see everything. Can't believe we're freaking close to a band like Bloc Party but not a small local band in town. I also found Matt's setlist stick onto the amp or something besides him. Yet it's too far so we can only tell there's about 10~15 songs, which is totally not enough!!

I don't know how to describe the excitement of the crowd. But After the first notes drop of Waiting For The 7.18, all we can do is enjoy it and follow the music. It's like Kele took us to somewhere that we've never been to. Just like Prince, Black can always have different touch in Rock, which is unique and with tension. Then is Hunting For Witches, one of my favorite from the second album. Russel's doing guitar effect, then Matt's solid drumming. The lyrics is also cool and full of attitude. Maybe Bloc Party can be categorized as some kind of post-punk/disco-punk band like other hypes, somehow the lyrics and attitude will be a lot different though. After the warm and sweet Blue Light comes their world famous single Banquet. I'm probably the only one who can't sing along really well, haha.

When people were getting a little tired, songs which is not so popular can just let us stop pushing and shoving then relax a bit. Then it's my personal favorite So Here We Are and This Modern Love, between them was the new single Mercury. Honestly, I dunno it's because the new song was pinch in between two of my Bloc Party favorites, or just because I'm still not that familiar with it, it seems mediocre to me. I mean there are not too much surprise in it, when you compares to Flux, one of my best single of 2007.(The music video is also EPIC!) Anyway, to see This Modern Love Live is really a dream come true. I've been watching it on Youtube and Austin City Limits' DVD for hundreds of times. It's better than in any recording. If it were not for I'm sweaty and stinky, it's a must-cry song for me lol.

The Encore, they perform 4 songs, which everyone was so familiar with it of course. Among the four songs, two of them totally showed us the crazy drumming from Matt. From the first verse of Positive Tension, you can easily found that every notes were so grooving with Kele's vocal, then layer by layer comes the chours, “Run run run run run run~”, amazing. Not to say the live got even better. Flux is so great with sharp tone of post-punk guitar and accelerated synth beats. I told Ashleigh that I love Kele's British accent in the final chours, “We need to Talk~” lol.

Finally is the Matt's drumming masterpieces Like Eating Glass and simply last song Helicopter. Frankly not only Ashleigh was disappointed with it when Kele's guitar splash (For she's hoping to hear Skeleton all night), I was also not satisfied with Helicopter as the ending song. Because there seems to be some problem without Gordon's bass or something. The chours was a bit empty though, which means it suddenly lost tension(especially it comes with such a killer guitar riff intro!). However, Like Eating Glass was too good and make everything worth it. I can say it's the best song of the night. Everyone was dragged into the music. So much passion and love stretching from the music. Absolutely moved me sooooo much.


Me and Ashleigh both bought a T-shirt after the gig. Too bad the new single was still unavailable, which Ashleigh want it badly. But she got Matt's setlist, which was found by me before the show lol. It's a pity that they skip some songs whcih I really want to hear like Pioneer. But anyway what a wonderful night! It's so great that I almost can't write something for it. Beyond the words, live magic is the best remedy for boring, suffer life =) I'm so lucky to have support from Ashleigh, especially we share same taste of music. She's so sweet and such a nice person. After all is the great Bloc Party, this is a couldn't be better start for a new life. Thank you guys.

Flux + Like Eating Glass

Matt's setlist

Bloc Party @ The Glass House, Pomona 7/28 (1)

It's really an unexpected show. I feel so lucky that I was there.





After the summer schedule was all set and done. I did a little research for the local venue of Riverside. However, it sucked the big suck. The truth is that LA do have a large market of gig-goer, but when it comes to business, they were all limited in the central LA county or O.C. Well, it's not big deal after all, since I'm here for my graduate study. Getting a degree and learning computer science is the first priority. So I can totally accept it. It's not like in the Bay Area which is so close to San Jose and has fast and convenient transportation to downtown SF and Berkeley. Still, I found a venue call The Glass House in Pomona, which is not that far from UCR. There're great artists have been there, such as Explosion in the Sky, Rilo Kiley, Ladytron, Blonde Redhead and Dashboard Confessional. Take a glance at the show schedule, not bad. Finch, Tokyo Police Club, CSS, Vampire Weekend and....BLOC PARTY!!!

Jeez! I can't believe that there's a chance to see such a festival-headline like Bloc Party in a small venue. From the pics on its official website, it's probably smaller than The Fillmore in SF. However, the problem is how can I get home after the show? And How can I get a single ticket when the show's already sold out? (Especially when the scalpers on eBay rip-off badly.)

I knew Craiglist will be my last chance. Unfortunately there's little tickets there, seems that all the ticket holders are real fans. That's cool for notorious SoCal scene, haha. Anyway I posted an add and didn't expect any response. But things always happen when you don't expect much. A girl called Ashleigh, who is a die-hard fan of Bloc Party, accidentally got a spare ticket and willing to give me a ride as long as I can pay the gas. I almost think that I was punk'd or something when I receive the call, seriously. Anyway, big band in small venue, I know it's like dream come true!!

I took Metrolink train to Pomona in the afternoon. BTW, the repeated scenery outside the window somehow reminds me the music video of Star Guitar by The Chemical Brothers.



When I got there, Ashleigh was already there. And there's Alex, we talked something pointless which I can barely remember before the show, haha. They are really nice people. then of course, we did heard something during the rehearsal. There's new single Mercury and other old stuff. Ashleigh'd love to see them do Skeleton, but I've check the setlist of Fuji Rock and don't think they'll do it. Doesn't matter, because we're pretty early and looks like we can made it the front row dead center!

Alex w/ the hard ticket.

the line, all the way to the end.

Doors 7:00pm, but the show 9:00pm!! All fans were kept waiting and freaking starved to dead. Hopefully, Does It Offend You, Yeah? took the stage first and they're really cool. I heard them from Nine Inch Nails' tour sampler. Just like Crystal Castle and Deerhunter, they join the tour and support NIN as well. Really have to say that both Trent Renzor and Bloc Party choose the right band. The twisted synth sound with grooving beats made their music like Daft Punk meet Hot Chip, and maybe perform a bit like LCD Soundsystem.



Anyway their stuff was excited and everybody was dancing. I love the black guitarist's outfit, totally old school/disco/'80 feeling. The Last song was the hit, "We Are Rockstars." The crowd simply went crazy. So many sweaty chicks around me pushing and shoving. I felt so like a perv...but still enjoy the music, not chicks, of course lol.

We Are Rockstars