double the shows, double the love

venue: bottom of the hill (sold out!!)
artist: jens lekman & tig notaro (opening act)
who: ro
when: 1-2 june 2009 (monday & tuesday)

i flew back early from LA last weekend to make it to the jens lekman show on monday. ro was kind enough to pick me up from the airport to head straight to the show. we planned on going to goat hill pizza again but the wait (it was all-you-can-eat night) was too long so we ended up at lingba, just across the street. no wait and actually, not a whole lot of people in the lounge. we ordered the seafood platter, which was nothing special. maybe it was all the fried food (french fries & onion rings) i'd had in burbank. but i couldn't really handle all the fried calamari and fried prawns. ro & i barely touched the calamari but we finished the spring rolls and grilled prawns. i also ate the pineapple base for the grilled prawns. it was so-so for the price.

ro read that the opening was something we shouldn't miss. so, we got in line and waited to get in. tig notaro is a stand-up comic who does this type of awkward comedy. she was very entertaining. so much that i became of "fan" of hers on stalkerbook. check her skits out on youtube.

about jens... i don't know if this post can convey the awe & love i feel for him and his music. and, i know i'm not the only one. as i stood in the middle of this sold-out crowd watching him, i could see and feel everyone around me doing & feeling the same. we were all completely and utterly mesmerized by jens. he's spellbinding. and his voice is perfect with every pitch and beat. we didn't want him to stop. even if he was just talking, i think we'd still all be totally hooked and hanging onto his every syllable. to top it off, he's absolutely adorable! this was just from the first show.

on the second night, we decided we could skip tig notaro and make it to goat hill pizza. we were seated next to these two guys. i swear, if i couldn't hear their voices but heard every single word of their conversation, i would have thought they were chicks. because they were whining about the opposite sex like stupid little girls. i mean, the guy was analyzing every l i t t l e thing. and the chick he was in love with was playing him like the fool he clearly is. pathetic. ro & i hardly said a word to each other in an effort to eavesdrop on our neighbors. you couldn't not eavesdrop as you are seated in such close proximity to one another. they were so absorbed with this guy's girl problems that i don't think they noticed us listening. heh. oh yeah, the pizza was yummy.

at the last two shows (three including this second night), jens makes an announcement about recording his shows. well, a request really. he asks that if we so choose to film the show, that we don't put it online. this second night, i decided to bring my flip and i'm not talking about ro. hahaha. anyway, ro was again, so kind to be the guest videographer for the night. he has the creativity for it and frankly, if i had filmed it, it would just be a bunch of backs & heads of the people in front and all around me. the sound on that little camcorder is pretty amazing. i was quite impressed with it as well as ro's zooming in & out at all the right times. thanks ro!

jens invited us to stay after to talk to him as he did the last two shows. i was a bit too tired the night before so tonight was going to be the night! we went outside and waited for him, along with everyone else. i so wanted to talk to him but i didn't want to be the retard i was the last time. so i chickened out and we left. booooo. i know, i'm lame. :(

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ bom, bom, bom, bom, bom....

love is all

venue: bottom of the hill
(sold out!)
artist: love is all, vivian girls, & one other opening
who: ro & lou
when: ro's 33rd birthday

much to my excitement, this was the second time i saw love is all. i caught them at their sf debut show at popscene. to my dismay, my memory serves better recalling voxtrot at that show than love is all. i didn't mention it in the post but i do remember that love is all didn't suck.

ro & i met up with lou at goat hill pizza in potrero hill before the show. we got the meat lover's special. it was mmm meat good! it was strange because i found myself having this bizarro sense of deja vu there. it was because i had eaten there almost exactly 3 years before. i was there with my ex when we were looking at a place to rent. i remember, he dragged me all the way up to the city through traffic after work. and i actually liked the place. i think i was more excited about living with the landlords/owners than i was about the place. my ex wasn't too thrilled about either things.

the bottom of the hill was only a couple of blocks away from goat hill pizza so we walked over. the show was sold out and i'd never seen a line there as long as the one waiting for us to wait in to get in. the last time i was there, it was at the jens lekman show w/ ro. **sigh** the night he hugged me. ♥ i am so easily distracted, aren't i?

back to the show... we got in just before the vivian girls (btw, that's lou w/ them at the bar on the right) from brooklyn. they were ok. nothing special. maybe they were too much rock for me, i don't know. i just know i didn't really care for them. live, anyway. but love is all on the other hand were different. i thought their sound was very fantastically unique. josephine, their lead vocalist, is uber cute with a cool pixie cut. her voice makes their sound unique. they reminded me of the yeah yeah yeahs, with a twist. it was an amazing show. lately, i've seen lots of good bands with amazing female vocalists. very cool, actually.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

i ♥ ♥ jens lekman pt.2

venue: bottom of the hill (sold out!)
artist: jens lekman (soloact) & a horrendous opening act
who: ro
when: 23 mar 2008 (easter sunday)

yep, ro & i saw jens lekman two nights in a row. the two nights were different. the bimbo's show was bigger with a full band. and last night's show was him, his guitar and tammy from the band. oh yeah, the easter bunny came to last night's show too.

the opening act was called something-claro (with a rolling rrrrr). as soon as he started singing, he lost me. i was answering work emails (thank goodness for my phone). it was the longest set ever. and one of the worst openings i'd had to endure in a long time. his songs were repetitive. and the worst part was that he couldn't shut the fuck up inbetween his songs. ugh. if he didn't talk between his songs, it would have felt like one long boring song. thinking about that guy gives me a headache.

during the opening act, EVERYONE was talking and no one was listening. when jens lekman came on, it was completely silent. you could hear the bar serving drinks. and again, he was better than perfect. the sound there is pretty awesome too. the only negative thing for me, personally, is that i couldn't really see. but that's sort of the case at most venues. especially the small venues. that is, if i'm not sitting at the bar or something. the bottom of the hill is a much smaller venue compared to bimbo's. the song list was slightly different. and songs were played differently as well. he transition into songs without a beat and seamlessly. he can really bellow out those notes. he's amazing. it's hard to believe he wrote black cab when he was 18.

during the encore, he sang se a vida é (that's the way life is) by the pet shop boys from their bilingual album. jens's version was slow and beautiful. this show was really very special.
after the show, he had this sort of meet & greet thing. after the last two shows at bimbo's, he says he will come down and dance with the audience. we never stayed for those. and i rarely make the effor to meet musicians unless they are at their merch table. jens was different. i actually wanted to wait around with the rest of the crowd to meet him and get a picture. we waited a bit and followed the crowd to the smoking area outside. he was singing with his guitar. after which, i squeezed my way to the front to get a closer look and the chance to tell him how much i ♥'d him. he is so much cuter up close. he's tall, skinny, young and cute. and has the coolest white shoes. he's also as funny and down to earth in person as he is on stage. i was so nervous and as a result, was a total retard. i kinda froze. told him how much i enjoyed all three shows and glad he did this afterwards because i could barely see him from where i was. and then, he hugged me! i don't think i've ever hugged a rock star before. well, maybe we hugged the caesars but that was after hanging out with them all night long. anyway, i think i'm still feeling shiny & happy from last night.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
i would have seen him a third night if he played another show in the area, alas, he is in portland tonight...

lost in time

venue: bottom of the hill
(sold out!)
artist: stellastarr*, monsters are waiting & minipop
who: sis (plus ro, jen & jonathan)
when: 10 february 2007 (saturday)
doors open at 8:30p

the show actually started at 10p. not sure why doors opened so early. we got there around 10p so parking was good and there was no line to wait in the rain either. good stuff.

minipop started on time. the lead vocalist is this cute petite blonde chick. they are a local band. she had a voice reminiscent of that of emily haines from metric. the sweet, potentially angelic sound yet with some sauciness mixed in. i'd heard of them but hadn't really heard their music. lisa seemed to enjoy them. and lucky for us, ro got their last cd.

next up was monsters are waiting from los angeles. i'd seen them at popscene before and remembered liking them. not quite what they sounded like but i just remember thinking, they're not too bad. this band had yet another female vocalist with a voice similar to minipop's lead vocalist. however, the music was a bit different. but when this woman spoke, it was the most annoying thing. she sounded like a little girl with this little voice. she spoke as if she were ten y/o. i absolutely hate women who do this. for some reason, there are many large women that do this too. as if it was a way for them to seem smaller. i just want people to speak normally!! is that too much to ask? apparently so. i think this smallish voice is more common with asian girls. betty and i bitch about this all the time.

finally, sometime after midnight, stellastarr* came on. and the lead singer, shawn, is quite cute. the pics don't do him justice. he's the one with his hands on his knees in the above pic.

in the last few weeks, i've been listening to them online on and off. i wasn't sure whether there were female vocals as this one song sounded like shawn but like a girl. so i mentioned this to ro. i said, i think he sounds like a girl sometimes. and ro looked at me as if i were crazy. and when i heard the first song (lost in time) which has him singing in this very deep, manly voice, i thought i was crazy too! then there was this song, the one he sounds like a girl in, and i ask both ro & lisa, doesn't he kinda sound like a girl? they both concurred with me. i knew i wasn't crazy!

even though we left a bit early (i wasn't feeling well), i really enjoyed the show. the range of music they play is quite eclectic. songs that were slow and fast, deep and upbeat. someone had mentioned that they thought they were like the band interpol because they are both from new york, but i beg to differ, stellastarr* are much better. i don't think of interpol at all when i listen to them.

rating: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

caesars - paper tigers

venue: bottom of the hill
band: the caesars
who: kiki & spike
when: 08 june 2005 (wednesday)
doors open at 8:30p

we actually got there on time. and, got rock star parking too. good thing, because it started raining. the 3 of us had a great time as we always do. we sat at the bar the entire time. we had drinks, food, and met a lot of random people stopping at the bar. including a 25 y/o australian named david. it was his birthday that night so we bought him a drink. then we went to 330 ritch to check out the guy from ride. we caught it at the very last song and then it was time to go home. the music was very sleepy, much like that of ride. adam from australia chatted it up for quite a while with david from australia. i think adam had fun talking about his hometown... he mentioned the jets saying something along the lines of melbourners sucking and their town was better or something? oh who cares...
oh, i forgot to mention the caesars. as i expected, they didn't remember us from two years ago and driving them all around san francisco for their very first time, or so they said. not that kiki & i approached them that night or anything. nothing happened that night and i am very glad about it. she talked to them the following night. the music was okay, it's strange to actually recognize their songs though. maybe i'm still in shock but they're total divas now...