Day 16: “I Will Follow”

U2 has been rocking “I Will Follow” and other favorites from their debut album, Boy, during recent shows. I can only hope they do the same for the Baltimore show in 16 days. Why? Just take a little look at this gem from Red Rocks…

Day 20… Zoo Station

If there’s one tour I wish I could travel back in time to see, it just might be U2′s Zoo TV tour in the early ’90s. Since I was a year or two old at that time, I’m now left to spend my night watching YouTube videos from those shows. 

This video captures the band at one their greatest career moments – they received endless accolades for their latest album, Achtung Baby, they started a precedent-setting worldwide tour, and the band sounds damn good live. The huge screens, video montages, and original footage that the band shot with mini handheld cameras on stage, not to mention a set of signature characters (MacPhisto, the Fly) that made phone calls during the middle of the set, throws Zoo TV in a similar class of live shows that we see today. 

The Countdown Begins: 21 days

In just 3 weeks from today, I’ll be having a slight freak-out at U2′s 360 show in Baltimore. This will be a monumental occasion for a few reasons: 1). I still haven’t quite gotten over my U2 concert experience from 2005  2). It’s been 10 years since U2  played Baltimore. That’s ten years too many.

I’ll be gearing up for the event by posting a video a day to commemorate the glory. Starting with this:

Remember when your iPod looked like this?

At the time I didn’t quite understand the sheer amount of genius that was in short introductory commercial for the iPod. Apple clearly had it together from the start – they combined video of the band and “iPod dancers” and an addicting “uno-dos-tres-catorce” to completely sell me on the iPod and U2′s latest album. Well done. 

“Angles” Streaming Now!

Excellent. The Strokes’ long-awaited fourth album is now streaming on their site.

Go nuts. I certainly am. Review to come soon!

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “Young Blood”

I first heard these guys when I was sitting in the WICB studio at 10 o’clock one night. And now I can’t stop listening. Catch some Passion Pit–MGMT vibes with “Young Blood,” the debut single from the  New Zealander band The Naked & Famous.

Fun fact? “Young Blood” debuted in New Zealand at number 1 in 2010, the first New Zealand group in three years to snag the top spot.

Falling in Love with Music…Part 1: U2, Live Aid

It’s that song that just hits you – gives you chills, makes you stop dead as you listen to every drum beat, every throb of the bass, every uptick in tempo. The words become all about you, each phrase plays as your personal anthem for days, weeks, or maybe even years. They’re the songs that made you fall in love with music.

Sunday Bloody Sunday & Bad –U2 (Live Aid 1985):

This was where it all really started. Before I saw a video of U2′s performance at Live Aid, I was a casual listener of the band. “Beautiful Day” and “One” were staples in my music collection, but I never paid much attention to the band that practically created the anthem of 2000. But when I saw this performance – with a mullet, leather pants-clad Bono marching across the stage – I was blown away. 

In 1985, U2 was just beginning to get really big. Their performance was pre-”Vertigo,” before ZooTv, even before Joshua Tree and “Where the Streets Have No Name.”  They weren’t the biggest band at Live Aid that day: they were only about five years into their 30-year-plus career. But after 20 minutes and just two songs later, U2 was easily elevated to the ranks of Bowie, Queen, and The Who.

I had never before paid attention to a band that gave so much of themselves to the music. I watched in fascination as the band stomped their way through a fiery version of “Sunday Bloody Sunday” – the crowd screamed along with Bono’s “We are so sick of them!,” as The Edge launched into a simmering guitar solo, and Larry banged away on the drums. When the opening chords to “Bad” rung out across the stadium, U2 delved into 12-minute rendition of a song about their hometown, Dublin. The band is in fine form here, seamlessly transitioning between their original arrangement and Bono’s spontaneous ad-libs and soaring operatics.

It’s funny to watch these videos of the band from ’85, now that Bono no longer rocks the mullet, high-heeled boots, and leather pants, The Edge keeps his hair short and knit cap on, and the band currently tours with an extravagant “claw” and sells out stadiums with two-hour shows packed with hits and Africa-inspired speeches.

But when Bono jumped from the stage that day at Live Aid to meet a few fans waiting at the bottom, it was all over. I was in love.

Who is Arcade Fire?

If anyone were to look through my past blog posts, they’d find quite a few entries about this little unknown entity called Arcade Fire. Unlike the many bloggers, tweeters, and pop music enthusiasts who hurried to this site to express their frustration that they had never heard of the group who won the Grammy for Album of the Year, I’m kind of a big fan. Sure, the Lady Gagas and Katy Perrys of the music world have some insanely catchy hits, odd music videos, and collaborations with other big names (cough, Snoop Dog), but Arcade Fire is different.

So who is Arcade Fire? Or “The Suburbs,” as some have been calling them lately….

Arcade Fire is a Canadian based group of indie rockers, known for their energetic, raging live shows, charity work, and husband-wife combo of lead singer Win Butler and his wife Regine Chassagne (drummer, singer, keyboardist, hurdy-gurdy player). The band recorded three albums, their critically acclaimed debut called “Funeral,” their sophomore effort, “Neon Bible,” and their third album “The Suburbs,” which debuted at number #1 on the US Billboard charts.

They’ve performed on Saturday Night Live twice, making appearances in both episodes’ digital shorts.

“Sprawl II” – Saturday Night Live, Nov. 13, 2010

This summer was a big one for Arcade Fire. After releasing “The Suburbs,” the band set out on a North American tour, with a stop at NYC’s famed Madison Square Garden.

Or maybe, just maybe you’ve heard their anthemic version of “Wake Up” in a trailer for “Where the Wild Things Are”…. Look! The trailer is below for a quick refresher.

Last summer I was fortunate to experience this band live. Never before had I heard such an uplifting symphony of sounds – beautiful, soaring violins, thrilling guitar, and a deafening chorus that embraced the pavilion.

This is Arcade Fire. They might not use Autotune. They might not have ten hits on the Top 40. They might not have outrageously memorable music videos with outlandish costumes or special effects. But they do have heart.

SONG OF THE DAY: “Under Cover of Darkness”

They’re back! Yes, you heard it, The Strokes are back – back to their good old classic sound, back to brewing up some crazy catchy riffs.

“Under Cover of Darkness,” their debut single off the upcoming album, “Angles” is available on The Strokes’ site today. Or, to avoid a few technical glitches, check out the full length version below:

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “Cameras”

I’m still trying to figure out exactly how it fits with the song, but Matt & Kim’s new video for “Cameras” is quite the entertaining blood brawl. Watch the Brooklyn duo show off some semi-violent yet creative karate chops that involve… an electric guitar and a bass drum pedal.

VIDEO OF THE DAY: A Sell-Out Off!

Leave it to Stephen Colbert to place two of the most popular indie-alternative bands in one room to duel (literally). Erza Koenig, lead singer for Vampire Weekend, and Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney of the Ohio blues duo, The Black Keys, stopped by to argue over band had most effectively sold themselves out to a series of commercials. Obviously, hilarity ensues….here.