Foo Fighters / Social Distortion / The Joy Formidable @ Madison Square Garden 11.13.11

As another year of shows draws to a close, we've come into the habit of enjoying arena rock spectacles as send offs. Last year, Rammstein wowed with their fiery German ridiculousness. In 2011, the Foo Fighters and The Joy Formidable had the charge and delivered outright.

The Joy Formidable opened up the night filthy mouthed and arena-ready with a handful of their heaviest from The Big Roar. The Welsh trio seemed like they were living a dream, rocking out for thousands in a legendary venue -- and expressing their excitement with countless f-bombs in between songs. Their mini-set ended with the fantastic extended version of "Whirring" including massive distortion and  gong bangs. From what seemed the like a million miles away we enjoyed the band from our seats, dreaming of going wild, front row and center during one of their own headlining gigs.

After 45 minutes of lamenting not being more into Social Distortion's rockabilly punk tunes, we were left to survey the masses by which we were surrounded. The immensity of MSG as a full house was astounding and a bit scary, but oddly comforting to be buzzing in anticipation for the biggest rock show of our year.

The fuck all, fun attitude of the night came to fruition with three-hour long performance from the Foo Fighters that went into midnight -- past MSG's 11pm curfew. The dudes made our heads rattle most of the night with a main set of heavy gooduns initiated with "Bridge Burning" and topping it off with "All My Life." The energy in the place was insane but nothing compared to the magic Dave Grohl was putting out. When he wasn't running up and down a catwalk (and most of the main stage) shredding ass, we were treated to our chatty ringleader's famously entertaining banter. Among his many jokes and f-bombs, he advised parents to forget Rock Band and get their kids guitars to write songs like "Monkey Wrench" before ripping into the classic single.

The band made us earn a massive 7-song encore with throat killing screams. Dave Grohl came out alone with guitar in hand, elevating on a platform where he serenaded the upper sections with solo acoustic renditions of the band's softer fare "Wheels," "Best of You." Somewhere in between he challenged us to sing "Wheels" better than German fans (we lost) and vocally agreeing to bring FF to Bowery Ballroom for an epic residency in 2012 (we could only hope this is true).  The concert went straight up next level when Bob Mould joined the Foos for "Dear Rosemary" and surprise guest Joan Jett (!!!!) and the boys powered through a great rendition of "Bad Reputation" before wrapping up the rock n roll shabang with fan favorite "Everlong."

This show boasted the best of an arena rock show short of pyro and spandex -- this is no surprise due to the magnitude of the Foo Fighters' worldwide fame. However, the band accomplished a feat bigger than anything they could've done in their 17 years: make an overblown rock extravaganza simultaneously feel like intimate garage jam sesh. Rich with the analog/garage spirit of Wasting Light, the band us transported to Dave's garage where we enjoyed our pals rock out from couch that can comfortably house about 20,000 people.

Not bad for our first time seeing our (basically) lifelong loves Dave, Nate, Pat, Taylor and Christopher together. --Cheep
Photo by Dana Yavin via BrooklynVegan
For setlist, pics, video of performances with Bob Mould and Joan Jett  check out Brooklynvegan

Radiohead / FourTet & Rocketnumbernine / Falty DL & Pearson Sound @ Roseland Ballroom 09.28.11

Photo by Erez Avissar

The sudden announcement of Radiohead's two-night stint at Roseland Ballroom made our hearts skip a beat. This near-coronary doubled in intensity when Mr. Kieran Hebden dropped the news about the complete first-class line up: Falty DL, Pearson Sound, Rocketnumbernine and himself were also on the way.

Just a year ago, we fell in love with Rocketnumbernine. Four Tet's remix of "Matthew & Toby" and their Gilles Peterson session on heavy rotation led to daydreams of seeing them live. A little show some place magical like Glasslands would do. Instead, these Londoners were set to make their big-city debut opening for Radiohead. This was not to be missed, even if fighting against overloaded servers and rabid fans for tickets was set to be a bloodbath. We lost the battle, leaving the W.A.S.T.E. presale and the Ticketmaster fiasco empty-handed. The war, however, was won. Thanks to an selfless act of kindness -- one impossible to pay forward -- the universe granted us a way in for the first night.

Typically, we arrived early to secure spots close to the stage. Around 7:30 p.m., Falty DL, the lone New Yorker in this band of Brits, made us proud sharing DJ duties (and blueberries) with Pearson Sound, the only man left for our ears to discover that night. The two played an array of danceable madness including favorites by Caribou, Daphni, and Hudson Mohawke. It was heavenly but the crowd seemed difficult to sway, some growing restless as the set drew near 9 p.m. Anxiety even prompted a tiny crew to boo, to which a Philip Seymour Hoffman look-alike in the surrounding RH army replied, "That's not cool, man!" and cheered to make up for it. Respect! Here, anyone indulging the rude and impatient quickly got the axe.

Rocketnumbernine and Four Tet by Dana Yavin

When Four Tet and Rocketnumbernine came on stage our loud cheers for these relatively unknown guys sparked the curiosity of the people around us. They inquired about them and dutifully we said to expect sheer brilliance. "Matthew & Toby" filled the space -- a dream manifesting before us -- as the trio worked their instruments, exchanging glances and grins. "Steel Drummer" took a whole new pulse live, generating a roar of approval from the crowd. Our newfound buddy, Frank, squealed "This is the best opening act for Radiohead I'd ever seen!" (11 times garners the man indisputable cred, yes?) YES!.

Radiohead by Erez Avissar

Left in high spirits, everyone savored the anticipation for Radiohead, united in surrealism. The band came out to a scream-fest, opening with a beautifully-arranged "Bloom" from The King of Limbs, a layered record that becomes an engulfing beast live. Since hearing the tweaked tracks via Nigel Godrich's "From the Basement," "Saturday Night Live" and "The Colbert Report," it was expected they'd mix TKOL up at Roseland with Mr. Clive Deamer. Of course, no HD video could compare to the energy of tracks like "Little By Little,"  "Feral" and "Lotus Flower" thrown in our faces live with a hyperactive light show.

As the set progressed, each song inspired gasps, mad sing-alongs, hand-holding and sighs. We were blessed with a breathless crowd during piano songs like "Codex" (!!!) -- this silence broken only to collectively shush a single "woo!" after the song began -- and "The Daily Mail." Ed's whole 'fuck yeah!' demeanor as he rocked out to the erratic part was a huge highlight of the night.

Same goes for one of our ultimate favorites, "Myxomatosis" because as Thom said "it is fucking cool," and added to the current sick-of-all-the-inhumanity vibe in New York City at the moment. We yelled the shit out of it, dancing without a care. The equally all-too-relevant "Bodysnatchers" was a thing of literal goosebump biz. Like back in the day at All Points West we went nuts almost losing our necks, hands holding tight while shaking our good frames and screaming the lyrics hardcore.

Jonny Greenwood by maryw.

When "Subterranean Homesick Alien" kicked off, another roar crashed forward. Absent from their sets since 2003, many hoped to get this little gem from OK Computer. It ended up sounding like the best pop song ever... for a planet where good music rules the radio. "Everything In Its Right Place" felt cathartic, opening with an homage, a few lines of R.E.M.'s "The One I Love" before breaking into the tune we've come to adopt as a bit of a mantra. "Morning Mr. Magpie" was a surprisingly electric rager.

After an end-of-show fake out, the dudes changed into something a little more comfortable. Colin repped with a Caribou Tee whilst Ed settled for a jacket removal and a significant unbuttoning of his shirt. There's no such thing as trying to be sexy with Ed O'Brien, the man is a natural. As Stephen Colbert would say: "Why British?"

Cheep shed some tears while singing "immerse your soul in love" during "Street Spirit," confirming that even Thom forgetting the lyrics because he's "going senile," took nothing from the power of this track.  Not ready to say goodbye, our time was forced to a close with "Nude," its falsettos elevating us like a dandelion disintegrating out into space.

With exhaustion creeping in by the minute, we walked away in silence with full hearts on fire, depleting energy and disbelief robbing us of a proper way to vocally express the insurmountable gratitude we have for this night.

Dedicated to Tom & Ben Page, with Love & Respect-- C&S