cine + octo = boo

Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner kicked off their careers as Mates of State 10 years ago, and the Cafe Du Nord played a pretty key role in the band’s early days. Last night the married duo returned to SF to celebrate by doing what they do best — pump up a crowd with one helluva frenetic set.

Some notes to make it all the more interesting:

• Yesterday was Jason’s birthday, and the crowd serendipitously conspired to interrupt the set with an impromptu round of “Happy Birthday.”
• The band played their planned set, but took requests from the crowd as well. This worked out well on some occasions (read: their cover of Jackson Browne’s “These Days”), and not so well on others (read: Kori was unable to remember how to play “Tan/Black” because it had been too long).
• The duo performed a pretty healthy sampling of My Solo Project tracks, including “I Have Space” which Kori claims they’ve only played live once or twice.
• Kori debuted a new song that had an awesome closing line, which she’d hinted at on Twitter.
• We were treated to their cover of Tom Wait’s “Long Way Home.”

Add to all of this:

• The Mates of State have been a staple in my life for a decade now. I shot a music video for their song “Goods (It’s All in Your Head),” and their music has been the soundtrack to many a life moments…
• The last time we saw the band perform live, we discovered weeks later that we were expecting Amelie. Subsequently, Amelie has grown up listening to Mates of State, knows many of their songs by memory, and is one of the few kids that were not introduced to the band via their appearance on Yo Gabba Gabba! (although upon viewing the episode, she proceeded to flip out screaming “That’s Mates of State!!!!!”)
• After the show, Kori and Jason hung around and were totally approachable. I chatted with Kori for a bit, told her about Amelie and asked her to record a video message for her. She encouraged us to come to an early show the next time they come into town as their kids will be there and would love to meet Amelie.
• It turns out the name Amelie was also on their short list of baby names. Small world indeed.

Anyway, it was a great night that will be hard to top. Follow the jump for a set list and a video message from Kori to Amelie.

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I grew up listening to They Might Be Giants music. I was the geek who had to explain that the band name “They Might Be Giants” was not just some self-referential joke on Tiny Toons when Particle Man and Istanbul famously appeared, but instead the name of an awesome band I’d been enjoying since a friend introduced me to Ana Ng.

Yes. That was me.

In what was both inevitable and deft, the two Johns (Linnell and Flansburgh) made the decision to forge their way into children’s music, producing new kid-centric albums alongside their rock albums. It’s not much of a stretch for the duo, their best music has always resulted from the melding of upbeat musical experimentation with dark, introspective, and sometimes cynical subject matter via their lyrics. Linnell’s lyrical prowess has not waned on the children’s albums, but rather shifted focus ever so slightly.

The move has been wildly successful for the band – netting awards and accolades while building up a new generation of devoted fans whose transition to the band’s back catalog should be seamless when the time comes. When preparing for Amelie’s arrival, we decided to line the walls of her nursery with letters of the alphabet. On one wall, her name is spelled out in colorful wooden letters, and on another I jokingly arranged the letters T-M-B-G over her bed. We laughed, and it stuck.

Months before her arrival I happened upon a signed copy of the band’s bedtime storybook/album, “Bed, Bed, Bed” and immediately picked it up. The songbook quickly became a part of our nightly routine, and as you can see, the book has seen better days. In fact, Amelie is reading from the book while I type this out, she loves it.

So, I’ve been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to take her to a kids show (the band typically schedules two dates per city, one deemed the kids show, the other the rock show). They didn’t have one scheduled during their stop in SF, but instead played a free in-store performance at The Booksmith to celebrate the release of their new book, “Kids Go!”

Needless to say, Amelie loved the show. Here are some photos from the trip to see the band:

Video from the show and a full set list after the jump:

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the five wan vagabonds descended upon oakland’s fox theater last night, and brought friends, music, and an evening to remember — as they are want to do.

for those unfamiliar with the decemberists’ latest effort, ‘the hazards of love,’ please stop what you’re doing and sink into the album with a nice cup of tea, some liner notes, and an open mind. for those already indoctrinated, the album can only be described as inevitable, given the band’s lit-rock-meets-thematic-concept proclivities. frontman colin meloy has stated in many interviews that ‘hazards’ was originally conceived as a musical. once deemed too complex for the stage, meloy opted for the rock opera treatment.

either way, the ability to bring the conceptual telling of a love affair between a changeling and a bowery girl to the stage has piqued many a interest. in fact, some of my co-workers are avidly working on a music show for current, and in the process spent some time with the band during their rehearsals for ‘a short fazed hovel’ tour. to say that i was a little jealous was an understatement.

to celebrate the kickoff of the tour, the current music folks posted some of their (stellar) photos from their time spent with the band. do yourself a favor and check them out — they’ve got it featured on the current music channel and boy do they put my meager efforts to shame.

amidst questions about the feasibility of bringing the album to life on stage, the band has responded in kind — performing the entire album in one full 62 minute set during the tour, and packing pivotal guest vocalists shara worden (of my brightest diamond) and becky sparks (of lavender diamond) along for the ride.

to further entice audiences, the crew has opted to play a second set at each show, the latter comprised of a smattering of older songs. to give you a sense of what greeted bay area audiences wednesday night, follow the jump to get a glimpse at the set list and watch video from the performance.

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