I was recently doing some end of the year clean up and I found a pad of paper that I had jotted down some topic ideas for Audioeclectica. One of the topics was one that I’ve often had discussions about with many friends over the years. Which brings me to this new topic, songs that should be played live. Now, there are a ton of bands and songs that this does apply to. On my list I had quite a few bands and songs on it but, instead of listing all of them at once, I thought showcasing them individually would be way more fun. The first song that I chose to pick is “Black Is The Soul” by Korn from their album, The Serenity Of Suffering. Though this song was released as the third single from the album and has been played about 45 times including their Pandemic Live Stream (according to Setlist.fm), it’s one of those songs of theirs that when you hear it, you immediately think to yourself, why don’t they play this one more often? I remember when this song came on during my first listen to this album and pushed play on it again because, it was that good. The album as a whole is quite good too. This is just my way of putting it out into the universe that the next time I see Korn live, it would be a very awesome thing to hear this one in the set. And this also probably means I’ll have to do an updated Ultimate Set List for Korn.
After one hell of a Summer and Fall tour, Better Lovers have dropped another banger of a song. This one “Two Amongst The Dead,” was written while the band was on the road this summer. This song was performed and fine-tuned on the bands Fall dates, and then immediately tracked in the studio between touring to make sure that fire stayed intact. Speaking on what the song is about singer Greg Puciato said “This song is about saying fuck you to the societal and institutional pressure to fall for ‘me versus you’/’us versus them’ divisional tactics and realizing that we’re stronger when we remember the ways we’re the same, trying to find commonalities instead of differences. Understanding and finding compassion for one another instead of allowing ourselves to be separated and controlled. Brothers and sisters. Pieces of the same consciousness.” This song rips! I remember hearing it a few weeks back when I saw Better Lovers live and this song went off! Strap in for another banger from Better Lovers!
There is something really quite beautiful to the excitement of making music that comes to one naturally and then performing said music to a crowd that devours each and every melody, rhythm and lyric. That’s what I saw and heard last night as I attended Crosses first live show in many years and their first of a three night stay at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary. The room was packed from the front to the back of eager fans waiting for this night, and at 9:15, Chino and Shaun made their way to the stage and so began the “revival” of Crosses.
For the next hour and thirty plus minutes, I as everyone in the crowd was completely swept away with the goodness that permeated from the stage to the crowd. Playing a majority of songs off their new album, Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete, the moment, the first song “Initiation” started there was no turning back and rightfully so. Chino Moreno sounded on top of his game as he sang his ass off on new songs like “Invisible Hand,” “Ghost Ride (which happens to be a personal favorite off of the new album),” “Found,” “Grace,” “Last Rites,” “Pulseplagg,” “Vivien,” “Sensation,” and “Girls Float + Boys Cry (which features The Cure’s Robert Smith on the album. No, he wasn’ there).” Even when they performed “Big Youth” (which on the album features EL-P. Again, no he was not there), hearing Chino’s flow on that song brought all of us in the crowd back to quite the nostalgic time. And the few older picks they played like “This Is A Trick,” “Telepathy,” “Option,” and “Bitches Brew” which featured Chino’s signature scream that ignited the crowd as they/we all screamed along! This show was something special. Watching Chino just be in his element and letting his more playful side come out is always a good time. Then you have Shaun Lopez, musically guiding everything along with meticulous fashion. The combination of these two is quite the pair. And you can’t forget the history of Deftones and Far so, if you know then you know! The way the set played out was one of those magical ones too. Even with it being just Chino and Shaun up there, it was alive and bombastic (and if/when they add live drums again, oh damn)!
On other thing I loved about this show is the setting. It’s been quite a cool and dark modern gothic vibe for the whole aesthetic and roll out of their new album. Having the first shows back in quite some be held at the Masonic Lodge at the Hollywood Forever Cemetary was quite the way to introduce this new era. The songs, performance, the energy in the room, and the sense that for the hour and 30 plus minutes the craziness of everything in the world just seemed to be on pause while this show swept us away.
Crosses Set List:
01) Inititation 02) This Is A Trick 03) Vivien 04) Found 05) Ghost Ride 06) Pleasure 07) ThHolyGhost 08) Sensation 09) Grace 10) Bitches Brew 11) Pulseplagg 12) Holier 13) Invisible Hand 14) Girls Float + Boys Cry 15) Last Rites 16) Big Youth
What a good way to start the week. Today, The Smile, the band featuring Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead, and former Sons of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner) have announced their second album. Wall of Eyes, the follow-up to their superbly eclectic and quite spelendid 2022 debut, A Light for Attracting Attention, is due out January 26 via XL Recordings. This new album sees the band working Sam Petts-Davies instead of longtime producer/collaborator Nigel Godrich. The video for “Wall Of Eyes” was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, Inherent Vice, Magnolia, etc). If you haven’t heard The Smile yet, I recommend it. There’s bits of Radiohead in it but, it’s more jazzy, funky, and quite fun. I look forward to their album being one of the first of 2024 that I listen to!
One of my good friends just went to the annual Dia De Los Deftones festival. It looked like a pretty solid show especially with Knocked Loose and Rile playing alongside Deftones. After the show was over my buddy sent me some video of some songs and I naturally looked up the set list. It was nice to see some rarities played though the majority of the set was a lot of the usual suspects. Not that there’s anything wrong with those, sometimes, it would just be nice to switch it up. Which brings me to my next Ultimate Set List, an updated Deftones set. This one is pretty damn good if I say so myself.
Guideline 1: What line up of the band would it be
Guideline 2: Where would you want to see the show
Guideline 3: maximum 25 songs (In order of how the set should go)
Lineup: Chino Moreno, Abe Cunningham, Frank Delgado, Stephen Carpenter, Chi Cheng
Venue: Fonda- Los Angeles
01) Engine No. 9 02) Elite 03) Be Quiet And Drive (Far Away) 04) Good Morning Beautiful 05) Diamond Eyes 06) Kim Dracula 07) Digital Bath 08) Risk 09) When Girls Telephone Boys 10) Swerve City 11) Around The Fur 12) Rocket Skates 13) Radiant City 14) Cherry Waves 15) You’ve Seen The Butcher 16) Lhabia 17) RX Queen 18) Entombed 19) My Own Summer (Shove It) 20) Change (In The House Of Flies) ENCORE: 21) Hole In The Earth 22) Knife Party 23) Rickets 24) Minus Blindfold 25) Pink Maggit (with “Back To School”)
I’m a couple weeks removed from seeing the mighty Baroness live. That show was one of the best ones I’ve seen all year. The time leading up and afterwards put me in a rather fun mood of listening to various Baroness albums and songs. Due to that, I thought I’d put together an Ultimate Set List for my dream Baroness show.
Guideline 1: What line up of the band would it be
Guideline 2: Where would you want to see the show
Guideline 3: maximum 25 songs (In order of how the set should go)
Lineup: John Baizley, Gina Gleason, Sebastian Thomson, Nick Jost
Venue: The Bellwether or Fonda
Set List:
01) Morningstar 02) The Sweetest Curse 03) March To The Sea 04) Last Word 05) Try To Disappear 06) Front Toward Enemy 07) Jake Leg 08) Choir 09) Chlorine & Wine 10) Cocainium 11) Tourniquet 12) Magnolia 13) Seasons 14) A Horse Called Golgotha 15) Beneath The Rose 16) Anodyne 17) Under The Wheel 18) Borderlines 19) If I Have To Wake Up (Would You Stop The Rain) 20) Shine 21) The Gnashing 22) I’m Already Gone 23) Take My Bones Away Encore: 24) Shock Me 25) Isak
Today is Bandcamp Friday (when they wave their fee for 24 hours) and why not showcase some great bands and their albums/singles that are out now! Check out these bands and show them some support! There’s a ton of great bands and albums on this list. Take some time and discover something new! Enjoy! If I missed your band, let me know and I’ll add it to the list!
I love when I go see a band live that I haven’t seen in a while and I’m completely blown away. That happened the other night when I ventured out to The Bellwether in Los Angeles to see the one and only, Baroness! Riding high on their exceptionally great new album, Stone, Baroness delivered a show and set that shows that there is no slowing down for this band. If anything, they’ve only gotten better over the years. Having seen different lineups of the band over the years, I have to say this line up of John Baizley, Gina Gleason, Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson is the best the band have ever sounded. It’s almost as though these 3 members were the missing ingredient for Baroness.
As the clock struck 9:00pm, the lights dimmed and the giant Baroness backdrop lit up and as they entered to “Embers” the opening of their new album, it was clear that business was about to be handled. Ripping right into “Last Word” it was apparent that Baroness is on a whole other level live these days. After “Last Word” it went straight into “A Horse Called Golgotha.” then onto “March To The Sea.” That trifecta alone was intense. Then came the awesome “Beneath The Rose” and from there we went into another exceptional new song, “Under The Wheel.” After that it was a nonstop onslaught of great song after great song including a personal favorite of mine “Tourniquet” from their Gold & Grey album. For their encore, they unleashed “Take My Bones Away” and “The Sweetest Curse. What a way to end the show.
Baroness are one of those bands that have such a vast catalog and cross section of influences which makes for great art, music and live shows. One of the things I loved most about this night and their set were the little extended jams to certain songs. When you listen to a Baroness album, especially those epic songs, you get swept up by it all and then live when those songs are played and they extend those parts ever so sweetly, it’s like hearing the song again for the first time. It’s quite a beautiful feeling. Another thing I have to mention is the intensity in which each member of the band played with. Watching them on stage put out the level of energy they did and play as hard as they did really upped the ante. As I mentioned in the opening, having Gina Gleason, Nick Jost and Sebastian Thomson in the band really completes the core. Their abilities as players and writers have pushed Baroness to explore different avenues which has made the band truly stand out and not be defined by one genre. This night showed that Baroness is here to stay and they are only getting better. If you haven’t seen Baroness live, I highly suggest you do as well as listening to their new album, STONE.
Baroness Set List: 01) Last Word 02) A Horse Called Golgotha 03) March To The Sea 04) Beneath The Rose 05) Under The Wheel 06) War, Wisdom and Rhyme 07) Anodyne 08) Chlorine & Wine 09) Tourniquet 10) Shock Me 11) The Gnashing 12) Isak
Encore: 13) Take My Bones Away (Tour Debut) 14) The Sweetest Curse
Being a part of putting shows together with The Cobalt Presents (aka The Cobalt Cafe) the past couple years has been quite fun. I’ve gotten to see a ton of really great bands because of it. There have been a few bands that have played Cobalt shows that I’ve really taken a liking to. One of which just recently played one of our shows and released a new single/video. If you aren’t familiar with Xtine and The Reckless Hearts, you should change that! This all female rock band is the real deal. They are infectious, energetic, and one hell of a rocking band. Their new single “8 Meet 6” is about the current attacks on women’s rights. It’s about how we must all come together and fight for eachother, strength in numbers, unity among the masses. The fight against the war on women! And it’s one hell of a song to boot! Do yourself a favor and check out what Xtine and The Reckless Hearts have going on. I have a feeling you will dig it!
About a month ago, Chelsea Wolfe released “Dusk” from her upcoming new album. Today, we have further details on the album, She Reaches Out To She Reaches Out To She, which will be out February 9, 2024 and the first single “Whispers In The Echo Chamber” has been released. Speaking on the song Chelsea said “This song is a rebirth. It’s my sincere hope that this song and ultimately the full album will help inspire others to empower themselves and step into their authenticity. I’m right there with you on that journey- as I wrote these songs, they demanded to be lived.” I look forward to this new chapter in the catalog of Chelsea Wolfe!
