I
found Ra Ra Riot about 2-Mo ago on iTunes. They were doing this Indie
Spotlight sale and I went through the bands to see if I liked
anything. The Rhumb Line (Ra Ra Riot's debut album) wasn't special to
look at graphically, but the iTunes review was...the reviewer said that
"Each Year" was reminiscent of The Clash's "Lost in a Supermarket."
That immediately perked my interest considering "Lost in a Supermarket"
is on my Top 10 Favorite Songs of all Time list!!! I listened to the
30-Sec clip of the Ra Ra Riot song, listened to a few more and decided
to take a chance on the album. I have not regretted that at all. In
fact, it has become of my favorite albums and I really love them.
Their album became more popular and more listened to than Bloc Party's
3rd album Intimacy (which recently came out), and I usually can't turn
Bloc Party off.
There
is just something really beautiful about their music. Of course, the
strings bring a more sophisticated sound, but the music is full and
lush, and the lead singer sings with a yearning that begs you to keep
listening. There's also the back story of the group filled with the
tragic drowning of their original drummer who wrote most of the songs.
It seems tragedy works in music, much like Arcade Fire's Funeral
debut. Maybe it makes the music seem more personal because they've
felt real pain.
Opening
Band 1 - My Morning Benders were a quartet from the Bay Area. I really
only remember the Asian bassist and the hapa (Half Asian) singer.
Being mixed Asian myself, I am always happy to see other Asians in
American bands (Not just James Iha -formerly of the Smashing Pumpkins-
or the lead singer of Hoobastank). The music was catchy and poppy,
and the lead singer sang with this wide eyed look that made him seem 12
and scared. But he wasn't, it was just the face. The thing I liked
about this group was the handling of the semi-heckler in the front row
of the near empty room. The lead singer not only took it in stride,
but held his own and made me laugh with his confident banter. I didn't
expect that.
Opening
Band 2 - Walter Meego. I had seen Walter Meego before opening for VHS
or Beta at The Earl. I recorded half of "Forever" because it was a
good song and have since bought their album. It's OK. I was looking
forward to their set because now I actually knew who they were. I was
kinda disappointed. All the songs blended together and they seemed to
play "musical chairs" with their instruments all over the stage making
it a little chaotic. They had gained a third member since seeing them
last. He made me laugh because he tapped his foot in doubletime no
matter how slow the song. My favorite songs from the set were
"Keyhole" and "Forever", but "Keyhole" is way better on the album. I
recorded a few songs, but didn't even feel like loading them. If
anyone wants them, I'll load them.
Finally,
Ra Ra Riot came on. What initially shocked me was there were six
members in their band on the super small stage. I was drawn to their
electric cello and violin because they just looked cool. All members
were super enthusiastic and jamming out, but careful not to hit each
other. I recorded the entire set and really enjoyed myself. The lead
singer's voice reminds me of Sting a lot and I also get some of the
vibe from their brethren Vampire Weekend (without the Caribbean
beats).
Highlights from their set:
1>Winter
'05 - This is a beautiful song. It makes you feel sad and the strings
sing back up. In fact, it was this song that made me want to make a
Twilight playlist about Heartbreak (Twilight series by Stephenie
Meyer...yes, an obsession, but not for this site...more on my personal
non-music site later). The chorus is, "If you were here, winter
wouldn't pass quite so slow, and if you were here, then I'd have a
choice to live, not be alone." It instantly made me think about Bella
through the winter when Edward left her. ~tear~ This is probably the
best recording I have also because there are no guitars so the music is
quite clear.
2>Ghost
Under Rocks - It's the first song on The Rhumb Line, and after awhile,
you just realize this song is really great. It was their most recent
single, so they seemed really excited to play it.
3>Each Year - Opened their set and was played a little faster than the album with frenetic energy.
4>Kate
Bush's Hounds of Love cover - Encore last song. At first I didn't
realize which song it was because his voice was so convincingly Sting I
was trying to figure out which Police song it was. That seems to be a
very popular cover (I'm partial to The Futureheads version).
5>The
whole thing...every song was wonderful. The Drunken Unicorn had filled
up and the audience was engaged and gave a warm reception. You could
tell the band was receptive of that adoration and didn't shy away from
performing their hearts out!
I didn't know "Suspended in Gaffa" was a Kate Bush cover also. I was reading some past interviews with Ra Ra Riot on www.daytrotter.com
and they mentioned singing "Hounds of Love" for awhile, but were unsure
if they could pull off "Suspended...". I guess it makes sense why that
song doesn't fit the rest of the album for me.
Here's the original version...Kate Bush video for the song.
If you go to Daytrotter, you can get free downloads for sessions they've had (including Ra Ra Riot)
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