Month: August 2013

Outside Lands, continued

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And now, the rest of my Outside Lands experience.

I’ll be honest, I can’t do music festivals like some people can. No way I can spend all day in the presence of that many people, especially in the bitter windy cold of Golden Gate Park in August. This list says it pretty well (for #14, how about: the only drug you’ll consider taking is Xanax).

But when it comes down to it, I heard lots of awesome music, and that’s all that really matters.

Nikki’s Non-Paul Highlights:
Rhye. This band automatically gets cool points because our friend Jake from UCLA plays drums with them! Check out the sweet slow jam “It’s Over” from their set. At the end, Jake ran into the crowd to hug his girlfriend, awwwww.
Jurassic 5. This was Alex’s equivalent of Paul McCartney (well, actually D’Angelo was, but since he dropped out, Jurassic 5 was the next best). I’m still working on my hip hop appreciation, but I feel like J5 is a good place to start (I’m a fan of “positive” hip hop, haha). I let Alex be the judge of which video I should post: “Quality Control”
The Head and the Heart. This folky goodness was the perfect way to round out our Day 2. We listened to them while sprawled out on a blanket at the edge of the Sutro Stage grounds. I especially liked “Lost in my Mind.”
Hall & Oates. What can I say, “You Make My Dreams” = biggest dance party ever

But…my other favorite show of the weekend was, punnily enough, Vampire Weekend. I’ve loved their music for a long time but am an even bigger fan after finally seeing them live. Also, I have to admit that I have a fangirly crush on Ezra Koenig (it’s the hair flip, I tell you!).

 

It’s pretty impossible to say which songs were my favorite…”Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” because Alex learned it on guitar? “Step” because of the bay area shoutout? “Diane Young” because it’s so fun to dance to? They were all awesome, and I will DEFINITELY see them next time they’re in town.

End of Post Disclaimer: None of these videos are mine. I knew I could count on YouTube for providing clips of every single performance I wanted to share.
PS – Have you ever seen so many iPhones in your life? I mean seriously. #ourgeneration #bayarea 

Paul McCartney at Outside Lands, 8/9/13

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Who’s got two thumbs and just went to her second Macca concert in San Francisco?

(this girl!) 

And I had an amazing time, surrounded by fans of all ages (there was even a baby rocking out next to me) among the sweet smell of…eucalyptus trees…in Golden Gate Park. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think Paul had the longest set out of anyone at Outside Lands, including two encores and a crazy pyrotechnics display. That’s right, rocking harder than anyone else at 71 years old.

I didn’t take my camera to Outside Lands because I tend to get distracted by taking tons of pictures, so here are some iphone pictures from the show (sadly, none of which have a visible Paul in them):

I swear I could see him from where we were!

 

There’s one thing I must admit. Having been a hardcore Beatlefan for over 10 years (about 3 of which consisted of collecting DVDs, bootlegging, and reading every possible book about them I could get my hands on), I am burdened by an excessive amount of Beatles knowledge that will probably never leave me. So every story that Paul told, every mannerism and every show gimmick, I was already expecting. It’s almost like watching your parent or grandparent – someone who you feel you know really well – and just hoping they don’t do anything too silly or embarrassing. Of course, I shouldn’t have worried about that, because he put on an incredible show, goofy stage banter and all. How can you not love him?

A relevant song from the show:

 

Some of the highlights for me included:
+Something (intro on ukulele as a tribute to George <3)
+And I Love Her
+Blackbird (“How many people here have learned this song on guitar?”)
+I’ve Just Seen A Face
+and of course, the entire crowd singing Hey Jude at the end of the night

While we’re on the topic, here are some songs I’d like to hear Paul play live someday:
+Coming Up
+Oh! Darling
+Got To Get You Into My Life
+Monkberry Moon Delight (song of the moment. PAUL YOUR VOICE!)

I mean, how does he even choose what to play? He could probably put on a 5-hour show consisting of songs that everyone knows the words to, because they’re that universal (and then proceed to put on another 5-hour show of obscure, lesser-known songs that are just as awesome).
Another favorite part of the night: after the show, while the masses of concert-goers were exiting the festival grounds through a painted tunnel, everyone starting belting out the ending of Hey Jude again, effectively turning what would normally be a panic attack-inducing experience for me into a warm-and-fuzzy singalong of one of my favorite songs.

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Thanks Paul. <3

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If you can’t fall in love in San Francisco….

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First of all, thank you Woody Allen, for making Blue Jasmine.

Thank you for highlighting the most dysfunctional of human relationships.

Thank you for making me laugh and cringe at the same time.

Thank you for putting some of my favorite people on the screen together.

But most of all,
Thank you for making a film set in San Francisco. No one uses city settings better than you. And the fact that I watched the movie in SF’s 103-year-old Clay Theater made it even sweeter.

Although for the record, I could’ve used more sweeping panoramas of the bay and inside references (Cate Blanchett’s snooty character uttering the address “305 South Van Ness” was enough to make everyone in the theater laugh).

I’m too lazy for any kind of formal review, so have my pluses and minuses and just go see it:

I liked:
+Louis CK. Not just liked, loved him in this. I wish he was in more scenes. I also wish…another thing that I won’t say because of spoilers.
+Long shots. Ok so I didn’t realize this until reading some articles after watching the movie, but I know it’s something that Woody is famous for. There are certain scenes which were shot continuously (versus cutting back and forth between characters), which really add to the flow and in this case, tension of the scene.
+Cate Blanchett is super convincing as a socialite spiraling into madness. There’s one scene where she confronts her cheating husband and starts having a panic attack so legitimate that I felt like I was having a panic attack of my own. Admirable, if not kinda scary.
+The fact that it’s a modern Streetcar Named Desire.
+Dat clarinet.

Disliked:
-I’m sure it was intentional to have so much arguing to heighten the feelings of stress/anxiety, but man, there was so. much. arguing. in this movie. Also, arguments are a hard thing to make seem genuine, and sometimes I have this problem of imagining everything the characters are saying as a script in front of me.  So maybe it’s just me, but I thought the arguments were kind of predictable.
-Everyone having east coast accents, even the so-called west coasters.
-The sentence that starts out with “When we were making love last night…” If anyone actually talks like that in real life, I hope I never meet them.
-The dentist.