Following up on the last post, I promised to put up all of the other Rilo Kiley related shows that I've taped over the years, that haven't made it up.

I figured I'd start with a quick post on Pierre de Reeder, Rilo Kiley's bass player, who released his solo album, "The Way That It Was" last August. Well in advance of that release, Pierre played a short 4 song gig, opening for The Elected and Jenny Lewis, back in June of 2004.

There were four bands playing, Pierre, Whispertown2000, Jenny and the Elected, and Pierre went first. There weren't a whole lot of folks there, but I was glad to be able to capture this rare (at the time) solo recording, which featured three originals and a cover of Neil Young's Harvest.

Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Open Frame of Mind
Where Ever You May Be
Foolish Heart
Harvest (Neil Young)

Labels: indie, live mp3s, los angeles, pierre de reeder, rilo kiley, soundboard mp3s, the echo

The other day I found myself with a hankering for some Rilo Kiley. My iTunes library randomly shuffled over to a recording of Room 8 that I captured in Houston back in 2003, and it led me to click on some of these old shows that I'd posted to hear some more live Rilo Kiley goodness.

After a couple of failed clicks I found that the links to the songs were broken and realized that it had happened when I transitioned from one hosting company to another. Since Rilo Kiley is still one of my favorite bands, I wanted to take a few minutes and fix all of the links.

Fixing these links has also reminded me that I've recorded more Rilo Kiley, Pierre, Elected (and an M Ward show where Rilo played as his back up band) shows that have not yet been posted. Need to work on that soon.

So, with that said - here's links to those posts, and the tracks now work!
02/21/2003 RubberGloves Denton TX
02/23/2003 Fat Cats Houston TX
01/09/2004 Glass House Jenny/Blake Acoustic Pomona CA
10/23/2004 Good Records In Store Dallas TX
05/05/2004 Austin City Limits Austin TX
09/25/2005 Austin City Limits Festival Austin TX

And while we focusing on Rilo Kiley - here's some related shows
06/10/2004 & 08/23/2004 Jenny Lewis The Echo Los Angeles CA
06/10/2004 Jenny Lewis Video The Echo Los Angeles CA
06/10/2004 The Elected The Echo Los Angeles CA
03/04/2006 Jenny Lewis San Fransisco CA
10/22/2006 Jenny Lewis Numbers Houston TX

AND. If this wasn't enough for you, head over to rilokiley.net multimedia boards for many more recordings.

Labels: austin, dallas, denton, houston, indie, jenny lewis, live mp3s, los angeles, soundboard mp3s, the elected

So one of the cool things that came out of seeing Letters To Cleo a few weeks ago, was I ended up hearing about The Hard To Get (THTG) an indie-rock duo from Los Angeles who came together in 2006 - think The Pixies meets Sleater-Kinney. Made up of Melissa Kaplan (guitar/lead vocals) and Tim Lee (drums/backup vocals), the band earned their cred playing at every local venue from Echo Park to Venice.

Their debut, self-released 2008 album, "This Is The New Business Plan," (produced & mixed by Michael Eisenstein of "Letters to Cleo" - hence the earlier comment) did a nice job capturing the band's catchy, riff-driven songs while maintaining the hard, fast and electric feeling of their live shows.

Their second EP, "Looking Good," shows off the group's eclectic side with a more varied mix of layers, and even features a quick venture into samba rock.

Keeping it interesting, the band covers multiple genres in one set and plays past the often one-trick music scene with a passionate multi-layered sound and a revolving cast of guest players. If there was a common thread in their tunes, it would the playful boy-girl harmonies, thoughtful lead and rhythm guitar progressions, and heartfelt melodic ideas.

Melissa and Tim are getting ready to go out on tour (I'm still waiting on that Dallas date!!) - go check them out and mention the Lullabyes blog at one of their shows for a free EP! See the confirmed dates listed below. Sign up for their newsletter or check their myspace for additional dates as they get announced!

thehardtoget.com
www.myspace.com/thehardtoget

Tour Dates:
06/26/09 Fox and Goose Pub in Sacramento, CA
06/27/09 Bob's Java Jive in Tacoma, WA
06/28/09 Le Voteur in Olympia, WA
06/29/09 Princeton Pub in Vancouver BC
06/30/09 Mirkwood & Shire Cafe in Arlington, WA
07/02/09 Twilight Cafe & Bar in Portland, OR
07/03/09 R5 Records in Sacramento, CA
07/04/09 Plea For Peace Center in Stockton, CA
07/05/09 Airliner in Los Angeles, CA
07/17/09 Java Cafe in Sacramento, CA
07/31/09 El Rio in San Francisco, CA
08/06/09 Silverlake Lounge in Los Angeles, CA
08/15/09 Dr. Watson's Pub in Philadelphia, PA
08/18/09 Public Assembly in Brooklyn, NY
08/19/09 PA's Lounge in Boston, MA
08/22/09 Roc Bar in Cleveland, OH
08/25/09 Silvie's Lounge in Chicago, IL
08/26/09 The Way Out Club in St. Louis, MO
09/26/09 Echo Curio in Echo Park, CA

MP3 MP3s:
Looking Good (Looking Good EP)
Late Shift (This Is The New Business Plan EP)

Labels: indie, los angeles, studio mp3s, the hard to get, tour dates

So I got engaged. Sweeet!

I also unknowingly scheduled an engagement party on the same night Rilo Kiley is coming to town. Oh well - I'd be sleeping in the guest room if I mentioned any regrets. ;)

But since I won't see them this weekend, I pulled out some old shows to listen to.

Here's my favorite one from the Jenny/Blake solo tour back in early 2004 - where they were trying out cuts from the (at that point) forthcoming album, More Adventurous. Lots of great banter and low key acoustic versions of rocking tracks.

Enjoy! (I've got a 2 cam video mix of this somewhere, ill see if I can find it)


Live MP3 MP3s:
Intro
Better Son-Daughter
Bulletproof
So Long
Go Ahead
More Adventurous
Somebody Elses Clothes
(Simply Irresistible Banter)
Simply Irresistible (Robert Palmer)
Absence of God
It Just Is
I Never
(With Arms Outstretched Banter)
With Arms Outstretched
(Panty Banter)
Rock N Roll Suicide (David Bowie)
(Encore Break)
(Glendora Banter)
Steve - Take 1
Steve - Take 2
Salute My Shorts
Spectacular Views

Labels: audience mp3s, concerts, indie, live mp3s, los angeles, pomona

So here I am. Like I never left ;)

Wow - I didnt realize its been over two months. Kind of weird.

So I took a break. Life is pretty damn good. I want to share again. Sweeet!

OKAY. Whispertown2000 has come up with a pretty cool concept. Rather then book a "formal" tour - they put up a post on their MySpace asking people to find them homes/clubs/trailer parks at which they could play. No money needed, just a place to sleep and enough in donations/merch sales to get to the next town. How supersexy is that? Hell they can't even be positive they are going to make it to the next town. That takes some serious courage.

I'm sure this has been done before, but I've never run across it - so I wanted to let all the kids out in Lullabye's Blog Land know. GO SEE THEM! Oh, and they're playing with a guy named Runion who also sings beautiful songs. Check him out here.

Jun 17 2006 6:00P SOSU Ballroom Durant, OK
Jun 18 2006 6:00P Sarah's House MC KINNEY- Dallas area, TX
Jun 19 2006 6:00P Bootleg Warehouse HOUSTON, TX
Jun 20 2006 6:00P Rio Haus NEW BRAUNFELS, TX
Jun 24 2006 7:00P OnePlace PHOENIX

Side note - just found their obligatory fan site - lots of fans going nuts over hosting Whispertown shows. How cute ;)

Oh and since this is a Live Music blog - here is their gig from the Echo in Los Angeles in June 2004. They opened for Jenny Lewis/Elected and put on a pretty kick ass show. I think this was one of their first public appearances - I was pretty damn impressed.

Live MP3s
Soundcheck
Intro
Fear It
Numbness
Gonna Hafta
Intentions
On the Move
The End
Doctor
Follow You
Suitcase In My Hand

Labels: concerts, indie, live mp3s, los angeles, soundboard mp3s, the echo, whispertown2000