my brother and i recently attended the jesus & mary chain at the variety playhouse. after all these years, the reid brothers can still put on a great rock show! they weren’t touring for a new album or even new material, so they just played the hits, which was perfect. they covered classics from psychocandy though honey’s dead, while passing on their 90s material besides snakedriver from the crow soundtrack. check out the full setlist!

the jesus & mary chain were actually the first small concert my brother and i attended some 18 years ago. they played at the ritz theater in ybor city (tampa) on october 13, 1994. they were touring for stoned & dethroned and had mazzy star & velvet crush opening up! it was also the last show at the ritz before it became known as masquerade for 10+ years.

– ryan

wras fest 2012 is fast approaching on saturday, may 12th from 6pm – 1am at the the goat farm in atlanta. elf power is headlining and the first 88 receive a gift bag, so it should be fun.

trek matthews designed the flyer/poster and it’s really awesome! check out our recent post on his great living walls mural in cabbage town.

– ryan & gub

there is a new venue in atlanta called terminal west. i haven’t been yet, but the photos look pretty cool. it’s in the king plow art center over on the west side. both black lips and washed out are on their schedule, so it definitely has potential.

– ryan

with the upcoming radiohead concert fast approaching, i decided it was time to finally go through and post some photos from their last show in atlanta. we had these amazing general-admission pit tickets, so we were right up front and center. in all my years of concert going i’ve never been so close for such a big rock show, so it was a blast! as you can tell from the photos, their live show is quite impressive!

you can check out the full set list here.

– ryan

jeff mangum recently played the variety playhouse and we were fortunate enough to attend. to say the least, the show was remarkable! mangum’s voice sounded like it was 1998, probably since he hasn’t toured since then, and he played all of the songs you could ask for. scotty spillane and co. played horns on select tracks as well, which was unexpected and great!

highlights were ghost, two headed boy part one & two, the fool (with horns) and in the aeroplane over the sea. you can check out the full set list here.

– ryan & gub

atlanta has a ton of great shows this spring. don’t miss out on the fun! for a full list, click here.

march:

radiohead – the, mar 1st – phillips arena – $69 – 7:30pm – tickets
cults – tue, mar 6th – the earl – $10 – 9:00pm – tickets
deleted scenes – mon, mar 19th – 529 – free – 9:00pm
neon indian – mon, mar 19th – the masquerade – $15 – 8pm – tickets
youth lagoon – thur, mar 22nd – drunken unicorn – $10 – 9pm – tickets
alcest – thur, mar 29th – 529 – $8 – 9:00pm – tickets
perfume genius – thur, mar 29th – the earl – $10 – 9:00pm – tickets

april:

school of seven bells – sat, apr 7th – the earl – $12 – 9:00pm – tickets
frankie rose – tue, apr 10th – 529 – $8 – 9:00pm – tickets
bowerbirds – sun, apr 15th – the earl – $10 – 9:00pm – tickets
sharon van etten – wed, apr 25th – the earl – $12 – 9:00pm – tickets

may:

m83 – mon, may 14th – the buckhead theatre – $24 – 7pm – tickets
st vincent – sat, may 19th – variety playhouse – $20 – 7:30pm – tickets
damien jurado – wed, may 23th – the earl – $10 – 9:00pm – tickets

with m83 coming back to town, i figured i should finally review their show from last halloween at the the masquerade.

all in all, the show was great! the new songs sounded amazing live and the crowd was way into it. at the same time, this was my fourth time seeing m83 and i had high expectations. i was definitely bummed they didn’t play any old songs, including completely skipping dead cities, red seas & lost ghosts, which is one of my favorite albums. i understand they have to cater to their huge new fan base, but i still want a set list that goes deeper than their last two albums (they’ve released six since 2001).

i still plan on checking out m83 at the buckhead theatre in may, i just hope for a better selection of songs this time.

– ryan

i gathered a list of my favorite concerts from 2011. i hope to also put up a list of my favorite albums later in the week.

archers of loaf & band of horses – sun, jul 24th – the earl
broken social scene – thu, feb 10th – the buckhead theatre
casiokids & strfkr – wed, mar 23rd – drunken unicorn
godspeed you! black emperor – tue, mar 22nd – 40 watt
kurt vile – sun, aug 7th – the earl
m83 – mon, oct 31st – the masquerade
the pains of being pure at heart & twin shadow – tue, apr 5th – the earl
sebadoh playing bakesale – mon, mar 28th – the earl
tUnE-yArDs – tue, oct 4th – the basement
zola jesus – tue, oct 25th – the earl

-ryan

-here is my favorite concert list from last year.

i’m really digging the new m83 double album hurry up, we’re dreaming! don’t miss their upcoming show at the the masquerade on halloween.

– ryan

talk about a classic show! i just got back from seeing archers of loaf on their reunion tour at the earl!! what’s even better, the opening act birdsmell and freinds, turned out to be band of horses!!! how amazing is that? i guess ben bridwell has played under that name before, but seeing these two bands in such a small sweaty venue was quite the memorable concert!

archers were amazing! they were super loud and sounded great, it was as if they hadn’t take a thirteen year hiatus. the setlist was pulled from their entire catalogue; including all four albums and various eps & singles. my highlights were web in front, wrong, plumb line, might, harnessed in slums, dead red eyes, well, they were all pretty awesome. screaming along to web in front with a bunch of sweaty people made me feel like i was in high school again!

birdsmell and friends, aka band of horses, were also great! they played as a stripped down three-piece but still sounded awesome, i think ben bridwell’s brother might have even been on bass. the setlist was a mix of songs from their three albums and a few covers. i know ben bridwell is a fan of the loaf, archers bassist matt gentling has even toured as a member of band of horses, but it’s still awesome he played a secret show just to share the stage with them!

on a side note, i’m glad archers opted to play a few nights in a small venue rather than playing a larger venue for one night. such a small setting was perfect for them. the show i saw was the third of three sold out shows at the earl and it wouldn’t have been nearly as fun in a big venue.

– ryan

ps…it’s funny, the last time i saw archers of loaf was also a pretty epic show for me. it was on their farewell tour in 1998 and they played with built to spill, creeper lagoon and 764-hero at the metro in chicago. classic!