Please take a moment to Rock the F out to - Arcade Fire's The Suburbs

I have been a fan of Arcade Fire since their debut album Funeral was released in 2005 and fell even more in love with them when Neon Bible was released in 2007 & I always have the most raucous and cathartic experiences at their concerts. Last month they started their international tour at Madison Square Garden in support of their 3rd full length album The Suburbs, which is yet another masterpiece. I've included my favorite tracks below, but I can not emphasize the enough the importance of having this album (and their entire catalog) in your collection. The Suburbs is poignant, stirring and conjures memories of youth without ever being maudlin and still being modern, so do please enjoy.


The Suburbs (Unstaged) Live at MSG


Ready To Start (Unstaged) Live at MSG


Modern Man


Rococo (Unstaged) Live at MSG


Month of May


Suburban War


We Used To Wait (Unstaged) Live at MSG



Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) Live at MSG

Art Basel is upon us....

Are you ready for THE biggest art event in North America? I think the more succinct question is: Are you ready for the parties? There's soo much amazing art to see this week and a lot of events to attend on the Beach and the mainland, that I ended up staying in Saturday night to prepare myself for the marathon ahead, instead of going to The Borscht Film Festival opening. I'll do my best to post during the week, but Basel is bananas and the craziest time of year so who knows what's going to happen. In the meantime here are a few events happening around town, that could be worthwhile.

Wednesday, December 2nd
This is the night when multiple vernissages (French for "preview" or "private opening") will be happening all over town, so take your pick since there will be plenty of glamour.
Indie Goddess Miss Ebony Bones (pictured above) will be the free show on The Beach to kickoff Basel. In the past Peaches and Iggy Pop have entertained the masses, I hope Miss Bones picks up a legion of fans and doesn't just weird people out with her awesomeness.
Over at The Gansevoort, the fabulous King Britt will be performing for FREE over three nights in the lobby.


Also starting on Wednesday through Saturday the amazing O.H.W.O.W Gallery will be sponsoring a bar in honor of the famous Max Fish bar in New York's 20th Anniversary, at the locale that used to be PS 14 (28 NE 14th Street) featuring performances from a bunch of bands from Animals of the Arctic to the Jacuzzi Boys to Gang Gang Dance, check out the full lineup here.

Oh ye & some guy named Dr. Dre will be at The Shore Club.


Thursday, December 3rd
Local clothing line Last Rights throws a party at The Moore Building...

& indie rockers OK Go plays for the 2nd night in a row at Design Miami at 6:30

Friday, December 4th
Hip-hop badass Kid Sister plays a FREE show at The Delano, sponsored by SVEDKA. RSVP here.

G. LOVE plays the Electric Pickle...no word if there will be any Special Sauce, but I'll make sure to bring my own ketchup packets if I show.

Saturday, December 5th
Chairlift DJs at the Electric Pickle at the POPLIFE party while The Golden Filter headlines.


Sunday, December 6th
Getting some rest people! But if you still want to party, G.Love is playing the closing night party of the Miami Independent Thinkers Fair at the Mitrani Warehouse located at 222 NW 27th St.

You can get this Test Drive here for free...

So it turns out KIA (the car company) sponsors test drives around the country and the dubs the event "The Soul Test Drives." It turns out they're bring their party to Miami this weekend, October 2-4th with free concerts by BOB, J.COLE, The Clipse and culminating with N.E.R.D at Awarehouse in Wynwood. Test drives are from noon to 8 pm. Or you can bypass the hoopla and contact the overlords of The Overthrow (the peeps who put together Dirty Hairy at LIV) for "more info on lapdances and VIP passes."

oldies but goodies

So I finally got my disposable camera from this summer developed and I remembered why I hate using them, the picture quality is crap at best and you never know what you're gonna get til it's over and done with. well here are some pics from the Radiohead Show in May in West Palm, Kanye West at American Airlines Arena (as well as what the shows actually looked like,) nights out in the Grove and Lollapalooza.

Radiohead 5/5/08 Cruzan Ampitheatre

the other Black Person at the Radiohead show

....And below is what the show ACTUALLY looked like

& a completely gratuitous Ed O'Brien picture

KANYE WEST at American Airlines Arena 5/6/08

(supposedly- can you actually tell?) at the Kanye Show

What the show ACTUALLY looked like

Out and about in The Grove

my first 'Little' Whitney Roux

Local Troubadour Robby Hunter awaits his payment , a pitcher of Heineken, after playing for the masses at The Cuda

i hate when i make this face, but for some reason i can't stop myself. i guess Steve just brings the silliness out of me

the man, the myth the legend, the real life "Tony Starke" himself, Mr. Jon Lundberg...and the walking parable John Lee

i kinda love how this looks like it could be an outtake from "Alpha Dog"...but maybe that's just my opinion

Chicago/Lollapalooza 8/1/08

i had 2 pictures left on my disposable...

so i used them on the view from Abdul's apartment rather than at the festival

Coldplay Concert Review

And now Wes Samuel reviews the Coldplay Show at the Bank Atlantic Center from 11/9/08:

I'm not to good at writing in depth reviews of anything, but here's my quick .02:

Normally, I think Coldplay's music is great for what it is, mood music. Along the same lines as Radiohead (although nobody really compares to them) and the Doves, it's great pop music with a warm ambient feel that tends to the fill the spaces between the band members.

I was interested to see how it was going to translate in a live setting, let alone a venue whose acoustics have, in my past experiences, left a bit to be desired. However I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. While they may call themselves a "soft" rock band, they are most certainly a rock band and they put on an arena rock show. I liked how they mixed up the songs and had a good balance of upbeat songs and the normal "touchy-feely" songs. I also liked how they changed up some of their songs in the live setting. I think the highlight for me was the fast paced electro version of "Talk" on the remote stage in the crowd.

Overall, I was very impressed. As Ethan said, there is something to be said for 20,000 people singing together in unison. To me, the best part of a concert is when you feel the energy of thousands of total strangers all vibing to the same energy in the room (God, I just sounded like a hippy) But it's true, and I definitely felt that a few times last night.

Thanks Wes! I had a pretty great time, which shouldn't be too shocking since I hold Mr. Berryman, Mr. Buckland, Mr. Champion and Mr. Martin in the highest of esteem (this was the 4th time I've seen them in concert.) On more than one occasion people have asked me: "how can you listen to Coldplay, they're kind of depressing?" I certainly understand where they're coming from but I beg to differ and think that more than anything they write really beautiful, sonic, rock and roll lullabies, but that's just my opinion.

Below are the trillion cell phone pics i took during the show.

the worst/craziest picture i could have taken of Wes

confetti!

more confetti!

the boys when they left the stage and played a few tunes in the audience

The sky was on fire on the way to the My Morning Jacket concert...

And it was beautiful.
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