As I prepared to attend last Friday's Tainted Love concert, at the Voodoo Lounge in San Jose, I asked my colleague and friend, Noah Zaves, whether or not we should attend dressed in 80's attire. He responded to me, "This is a nice, upper class club and I do not believe people will be dressing up. You should wear casual, yet nice, attire that you would wear to go out." When we arrived to the club in downtown San Jose, we surprised and happy to discover that our prejudgment of the crowd had been incorrect: about 1/4 of the crowd showed up in some resemblance of 80's attire. (I then quickly touched up my appearance to fit the genre). It was wonderful to see how this band attracted a crowd with a variety of ages, beginning with (and the majority being) the 80's babies, who had not fully experienced the 80's culture, yet were still passionate about it due to its lasting wonders, and ending with people who experienced the 80's during their 20's and have remained passionate about the 80's. The excitement for the show was evident in the attire, mood and behavior of the crowd and very contagious...
When Trey Songs opened the night, I recognized a couple of songs, stood to get a better look, and then sat down to rest my legs. But when Jay-Z took the stage, the energy of the entire arena forced me to my feet, and I couldn't sit for the rest of the concert. This had nothing to do with my line of sight - it was a pure, fundamental, biological response to the best stage presence in performing music. Jay-Z's 2-hour set, on March 24 at San Jose's HP Pavilion, transcended the terms "concert" or "performance." These words are too traditional, too limiting. Rather, I would describe Jay-Z's time on the stage as a full-on multisensory experience, complete with visual effects, arresting beats, a live band, and a legendary MC who hasn't stopped in 14 years. From the moment of the curtain's rise, the stage looked more intense than your average concert. Set against a backdrop of giant right-angled screens, cut to look like the New York City skyline, the multi-piece band was an imposing presence. Even their equipment, their drum sets and keyboard stands, bore three red horizontal lines, one on Jay-Z's unique symbols. Fans prominently displayed another, a...
I love it when a show is about to start. The people milling around, the bars setting up, the private blocked-off seating empty, because those who have private seating are always fashionably late. And whoever arrives after them is even cooler because they don't even need private seating to let everyone know how cool they are. Ahh yes, the night of Saturday, Apr. 3 held all of these things. Firstly, The Crystal Method did not even start until midnight, which is pretty fancy on top of the fancy venue (the Ruby Skye, which by the way is a stellar place to experience a large one-room two story dance hall, with a side room). With no opener, they needed to play some jeering sounds that could not be called music in order to introduce themselves. Before you could say "this isn't music" the real sounds started in. For those of you who are not familiar with their sound, Crystal Method is a group that varies, with hits that are steady and loud, to mellowed-out, build-up fests of glory. When a DJ puts on a show usually one of two things happens: The audience is entranced with the vibe and are swept...
