5/14/09 Afternoons/The Happy Hollows/warpaint

Greetings everyone!

This is my first real post (see previous post) in a WHIIIIILE, but I just got back from a show a little while ago and want to give my brief synopsis of it.

Tonight/Last night, after sitting through traffic for about an hour in the afternoon, I finally made it to the Troubadour where I was privileged to see The Happy Hollows (again!! =]!) To be honest, they are the main reason I went to the concert, but the other two bands were very good as well.

The concert got going at about 8:30 to a barely 1/5-full Troubadour, (which, if you don't know, is a rather tiny venue, max cap. being probably in the 300s), if that. At this time, warpaint began their set. Luckily, as they began, the place started filling up a little more.

warpaint is a great 4-piece from...well...somewhere here in California. Their mostly mellow, shoegazey Indie rock was quite pleasant on the ears. Beautiful melodies, very often harmonized beautifully, produced by the two female vocalists above the 2-guitar, bass and drum (or sometimes guitar, keyboard, bass, drum and even for one song keyboard, bass, drum) very harmonious music. The band is very ambient, using a gratuitous amount of reverb on vocals and instrumentation. The drums were quite dynamic; the softs and the accents were delivered so well, that it helped a lot with the outer shape of the songs. Overall, warpaint are a very enjoyable band who put on a great live show. Check them out here: http://myspace.com/worldwartour

Afternoons, although they were the headliners, I am going to put next. Afternoons are a septet (I don't think I've ever used that...or anyone ever uses that), or seven-piece, from here in Los Angeles. The band while performing most often has this as their instrumental line-up, two guitars, bass, keyboards, two drum kits and a vocalist/percussionist. Although, some songs do vary in instrumentation, one of the drummers also plays trumpet during some songs, and actually joins in on guitar in one. Afternoons seem somewhat like they picked up an "Arcade Fire" stencil and drew themselves out. The performance is very reminiscent of Arcade Fire's performances, not in that the sounds are the same, but the fact that there are so many people up on stage at once. Afternoons have a very great, big sound to their music. The use of two drum kits is not redundant at all, while the drummers do play unison parts at times, most of the parts polyrhythmic drum patterns that would otherwise require a couple of extra arms. The music itself is very catchy and well composed, with vocal harmonies, accompanying horn parts as well as some extra percussion such as tambourine and even a Concert Bass drum (such as those used in wind ensembles.) The songs range from somewhat heavy, fast and punchy to slow, melodic and very nice to listen to. Afternoons should be checked out by you! Here you go: http://myspace.com/afternoonsmusic

And of course, The Happy Hollows. I don't think there is much more I can say that I didn't say about them in the post about the Silversun Pickups show except, really, there is soooo much more I can say about The Happy Hollows. Once again, their talent is displayed in their music. They are such great, energetic performers that love being up there. They performed a few more songs than they did at the Glass House, including a new one or two, I can't quite recall, but it was great. Pheonomenal job by a phoenomenal band. Not to mention, they are some of the most awesome people ever. To sum it up, I pretty much just really can't wait until the next time they play a show (that I can go to). I got to hang out with The Happy Hollow peeps a bit before the show and after the show, and they are aboslutely amazing people. Also, Brian and Joe from Silversun Pickups were at the show. They are big fans of The Happy Hollows and I think it is so great to see members of established bands actually take an interest in local bands they become fans of. So, if you haven't already, check out The Happy Hollows on MySpace or Facebook. Also, you can check out my featured article on them here.

Awesome show. Amazing people. Amazing time.
That is all.

The Happy Hollows

The badasses above are none other than The Happy Hollows, if not apparent enough by the big blue letters underneath them. They are from, well...I haven't quite figured that out yet, Los Angeles, I can easily assume, specifically, I'm not sure, but from a place they like to call Negahdariland, CA. The Happy Hollows is comprised of the beautiful and talented guitarist/vocalist Sarah Negahdari (makes sense now, right?), bassist/keyboardist/vocalist Charlie Mahoney and drummer/backing vocalist Chris Hernandez. Their music is nothing short of raw, awesome (dare I say rawesome? yay for port-manteaux), energetic and just great. I was fortunate enough to catch them live opening for the Silversun Pickups, and their performance speaks for them to an even further extent. Sarah's performing almost made me think of Karen O (of Yeah Yeah Yeahs) if she played guitar on stage. Charlie's performing reminded me somewhat of when I saw Q And Not U perform. Chris is a very talented drummer and his performance makes it seem like his drumming is effortless and he enjoys himself A LOT. In fact, you can tell they all love playing. I can easily say that now, I love listening and watching. So far, The Happy Hollows have released 2 EPs and a Limited Edition 7-inch (or..at least that's what I know). One entitled Bunnies & Bombs, available through iTunes, and various other digital musical outlets (or, um...these: Emusic, Napster and Rhapsody. ), and the other entitled Imaginary, available for FREE! (or pay what you want), but free if you put 5 of your coolest, raddest, most awesomest, closest friends' e-mail addresses (because you're no friend if you don't introduce them to The Happy Hollows) into the little widget thing that can be found below, then you will receive the album via e-mail. Also, if you like vinyl, you can buy the 7-inch! (which I would have done at the show had I money. Damn economic recession, otherwise known as the American Economy's scapegoat.) Before I go off on a tangent, LISTEN TO THE HAPPY HOLLOWS, NOW!

Tell your friends about them. Tell your parents about them. Tell your grandparents about them. Tell your professors, your coworkers, your dog, your cat, your chinchilla, that one relative you haven't really talked to in 12 years but call occasionally to borrow money that you never pay back and tell them about The Happy Hollows!!!

Add them on myspace.com/thehappyhollows.

Here's the Imaginary EP download thingy.

For those in the Los Angeles area, catch them at the Troubadour on May 14th w/ Afternoons and warpaint