KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2005 - Night Two
by: John Paulsen
12/14/05
Every year in early December, Los Angeles radio station KROQ produces two Almost
Acoustic Christmas concerts, with the benefits going to charity. Night one
featured such ear-bleeding acts as Korn, Nine Inch Nails and System of a Down.
I was fortunate to land two tickets to night two, which sported a lineup that
was much more appealing to me and my wife. The concert was held at the Gibson
Amphitheatre in Universal City. On the walk from the parking garage, two strange
things happened: 1) I discovered that you can’t use a Starbucks Gift Card at the
Starbucks in Universal City, and 2) I heard the radio-friendly version of
Weezer’s “We Are All on Drugs” which is renamed “We Are All in Love.” In
retrospect, I’m not too shocked about the Starbucks thing, but I did lose a
little respect for Weezer.
Anyway, on to the concert.
Nada Surf (5:05 – 5:35)
Other than their 1996 hit, “Popular,” and their new album, The Weight Is a
Gift, I’m not too familiar with Nada Surf’s oeuvre. But after listening to
their half-hour set, which included the aforementioned hit along with the new
tune, “Always Love,” they sound exactly like a pensive, moody band I would have
missed in the late ‘90s while the likes of Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park were
being shoved down my throat on rock radio. I’m definitely going to dig into
their catalog more when I have time.
One of the best things about the show is its revolving stage. While one band is
playing, the next is getting ready, so the music is pretty much non-stop.
Hot Hot Heat (5:35 – 6:05)
After releasing two great CDs, Make Up the Breakdown and
Elevator, HHH is one of dance-rock’s most underrated bands. I’ve seen
them several times now and they always put on a solid show. During this
half-hour set, they managed to play eight of their best songs:
Talk to Me, Dance with Me
Dirty Mouth
Goodnight, Goodnight
You Owe Me an IOU
Middle of Nowhere
No, Not Now
Island of the Honest Man
Bandages
Frontman Steve Bays provided most of the on-stage energy, alternating between
the keyboard and his Mick Jagger/Carrot Top impression. (He’s got a giant, curly
afro.) I didn’t hear my favorite song, “Oh Godamnit,” but like the real Jagger
says, you can’t always get what you want.
Death Cab for Cutie (6:05 – 6:35)
This Seth Cohen-approved band has always left me a bit lukewarm. Sure, “A Movie
Script Ending,” “The Sound of Settling” and “A Lack of Color” are great songs,
but the rest of their catalog is a bit underwhelming. They do sound good in
person, and during this show, they played at least three songs – “Crooked
Teeth,” “Different Names for the Same Thing” and “Soul Meets Body” - from their
new album, Plans. They did play two of the better songs from
Transatlanticism, “The New Year” and “Title & Registration,” along with
their big hit, “The Sound of Settling.” All in all, they’re a solid band – just
a little too emo for me.
The Bravery (6:35 – 7:10)
I think the feud between the Bravery and the Killers is over. I always thought
it was kind of a goofy fight. The Killers criticized the Bravery for cribbing
their riffs when the Killers crib ‘80s riffs left and right. Then again, maybe I
don’t understand the feud, which begs the question – who really cares?
Two songs from the Bravery’s
self-titled debut are vying for spots in my Top 10 songs of the year – “An
Honest Mistake” and “Public Service Announcement.” Neither seem all that
complicated but they are both catchy as hell, and came across well in person.
They opened with “Swollen Summer,” which is probably the third best song on
their debut. About two-thirds the way through the set, frontman Sam Endicott
asked, “Do you want to hear a new song?” My answer to this, especially at a
marathon concert like this one, is usually “No,” so it was time to grab some
dinner.
Jack Johnson (7:10 – 8:05)
My wife likes Jack Johnson and, I’ll admit, he plays well live, but every time I
see him now, I can’t help but think of the SNL commercial where they spoof him
“keeping things casual” by selling slippers that look like bare feet. From my
vantage point, he appeared to be barefoot last night, which makes me wonder if
he’s had a tetanus shot recently.
Anyway, he appears to be filling the void left open since Dave Matthews stopped
making music with any kind of consistency. He sounded especially good during
“Flake” and “Bubble Toes,” and also played a medley, which included the choruses
from The White Stripes’ “My Doorbell” and Sublime’s “Badfish.” He seems like a
pretty laid-back guy – after he forgot the opening words to “Wasting Time,” he
just stopped and said, “Hey, those aren’t the right words,” which garnered a
good laugh from the capacity crowd.
The White Stripes (8:05 – 9:00)
I recently saw Jack and Meg
at the Greek and their style hasn’t changed at all from that show. What did
change – much to my delight – was their set list:
Black Math
Blue Orchid
Party of Special Things to Do
Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground
My Doorbell
Death Letter
Same Boy You’ve Always Known
Hotel Yorba
Ball & Biscuit
The Nurse
Jolene
We’re Going To Be Friends
Astro
The Denial Twist
Little Ghost
Seven Nation Army
It was almost as if they read my review and said, “He’ll probably be at the KROQ
show, let’s play some of those songs for him.” The set was great, despite a few
idiot patrons who were trying to find their seats. We’re six bands in at this
point – what have you been doing the last few hours?
Coldplay (9:00 – 10:00)
We were up in the mezzanine, and for the first six bands, everyone was sitting
down and enjoying the show. Suddenly, this guy stands up in the row ahead of us.
I can understand if you want to stand up so you can dance or to see better, but
you want to stand up for Coldplay? This always has a domino effect so soon
everyone in our section is standing.
This was my first time seeing the band, and they sounded tight. Though I’m not
sure who dressed frontman Chris Martin – he was wearing all black with white
tennis shoes. Better have a talk with him, Gwyneth.
The light show was impressive, though there seemed to be a spotlight pointed
directly at our section, which made it difficult to see anything else. The
lights were especially powerful during “Politik,” which qualifies as a rocker,
if you’re Coldplay.
In the middle of the set, they did two acoustic numbers – “’Til Kingdom Come”
and a Johnny Cash cover, “Ring of Fire.” After “Clocks,” I saw the guy ahead of
us (who was the first to stand up) making devil’s horns with his hand. Really?
Devil’s horns for Coldplay?
All in all, it was a solid show. Here’s the set list:
Square One
Politik
Yellow
Speed of Sound
Trouble
Til Kingdom Come
Ring of Fire
Clocks
Talk
Fix You
Depeche Mode (10:00 – 11:15)
Leading up to their set, everyone was referring to them as the “best band in the
world,” which was surprising to me, as I’ve always thought of Depeche Mode as a
pretty good ‘80s band that had maybe 10-15 songs that I like. My wife was
visibly excited – she has tried to see Depeche Mode three times since she was 16
and each time, something major happened that made it impossible for her to go.
In fact, she had kind of a manic look in her eyes, which is probably what I
looked like as I watched AC/DC take the stage for the first time a few years
ago.
They sounded pretty good live (especially “Personal Jesus” and “I Feel You”) and
even surprised us with an encore. Here’s the set list:
Personal Jesus
Walking In My Shoes
Precious
I Want It All
A Question of Lust
The Sinner in Me
I Feel You
John the Revelator
Behind the Wheel
Enjoy the Silence
<encore>
Shake the Disease
Never Let Me Down Again
So that’s it – the marathon concert that is KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas. If
you ever have an opportunity to go, do so. It is very well produced and they do
a great job of keeping things moving. Tickets are tough, so plan ahead.
Send any questions, comments or wine stories to jpaulsen@bullz-eye.com.
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