scene&heard

Old Campus played host Saturday afternoon to a rare, wondrous phenomenon, perplexing passersby and leaving them staring transfixed at the shiny objects and loud noises emitting from a two-foot raised platform erected in front of Durfee’s.

No, the aliens have not finally landed—although that would have been even funnier than the open-mouthed gapes of said passersby. No, the phenomenon I speak of, friends, is Yale music. And yes, it’s rare—you know that Spring Fling is not music.

An eclectic group of seven student bands and performers gathered on Saturday in a WYBC and YSEC collaboration to bring Yale-a-Palooza to Old Campus, with music ranging from shoegaze to hip hop, and from jazz to experimental.

First to take the stage were the Battlekites, who, after overcoming several minutes of giggling fits, played their pleasant indie/shoegaze tunes to a moderately sized audience consisting of band members’ friends, an equal spattering of upper and lowerclassmen, and the occasional cluster of skinny jeans and scarves—the latter group looking carefully nonchalant, preferring, of course, to divide their attention with cell phones and the occasional cigarette.

The second band to come onstage was called…well, Onstage. Their energetic covers of various jazz and latin beats featured beautiful vocals from Tina Colon ’09 and expertly played saxophone, keyboard, and drums, for a set that brought both the stage and audience to life, and a finale that featured some impressive beatboxing from the saxophone player.

The third act consisted of solo rapper Mustafo’s shameless self-promotion, soul-baring transitions, and worldly knowledge-sharing in between songs. Oh, and he rapped too.

Next up was Unripe Avocado with their experimental blends of guitar, saxophone, and drums, impressive for only a two-person act. Following this, came Strobings, another experimental two-man act, featuring menacing drumbeats and screeching vocals.

Yale-a-Palooza’s sixth act was another solo performance, this time by Noah Lawrence, who together with an acoustic guitar and endearingly sweet sincerity that carried all the way through his set, managed to leave several of his songs stuck in my head throughout the rest of the day.

Last to take the stage were the Flaming Snake Bears, a duo whose steady guitars and vocals, sometimes bordering on blues-rock with the addition of a harmonica, belied their insane name. “Flaming Snake Bears,” I ask you…

Filling in the occasional time gaps between acts was Eddie Quinones ‘08 who, together with an acoustic guitar, vastly amusing facial expressions, and lyrics about “being a wuss” as he once put it, was a suitable and pleasant filler act.

At the end of the day, the four-hour long Yale-a-Palooza was a worthy attempt at bringing good music to an Ivy League campus and a pleasant way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon for the modest audience that showed up to sit, watch, and rob themselves of any sleep the next night thanks to four hours of not working on those thousand and a half problems sets due this week. Or maybe that was just me.

Governor Jodi Rell declared October 2 to be “Bruce Springsteen Day.” The Boss and the E Street Band kicked off the “Magic” tour Tuesday in Hartford – so with citizens making the pilgrimage up 1-91, airwaves crowded by tracks off the new album of the same name and the state officially endorsing all this frenzy, Connecticut was hit hard by Bruce fever.

“Magic” is here to advertise his new album and showcase old hands – even though we were told that last time was the “last time,” Clarence Clemens, Max Weinberg and all the others were back in full force. The crowd was assembled by 7:30, clutching stadium hotdogs, wearing old tour t-shirts that might as well have carbon dated them and skipping the bathroom line for the time being, lest they miss the opening chords of – what would he start with? A new track, maybe? “Magic” itself? Or “Born to Run”? “Born in the USA”? An hour passed; it was getting difficult to keep that breath held in.

And then - ! “Radio Nowhere” – a new song, but one that the entire crowd seemed to know the words to by the end. He was back at it, and man, can this guy perform. The concert went on for a seamless two hours and was – this is the mark of a good show – one where you just couldn’t sit down. Even if you couldn’t dance, you could sway, or raise your hands, or just try to get a tiny bit closer to that god gracing this Hartford stage. Bruce Springsteen was, for the night, an undisputed messiah: Liberating baby boomers from their generational label, liberating listeners from substandard music – liberating a student or two from hours otherwise spent in SML. He’d simply lift up his arms and the entire crowd responded with a salute to the sexiest man this side of Jersey.

The band did a good job of tempering new music with old; though ostensibly designed to promote the new tracks, this tour seemed just as eager to give loyal fans a sampling of those stand-bys well-known and loved. A nod to “Born to Run” (“She’s the One” was greeted with screams of delight) segued neatly with the relatively unknown “Devil’s Arcade” and “Girls In Their Summer Clothes.” These new songs bore the Boss stamp – upbeat, tightly crafted, perfect for singing along to – but were sometimes grounded by a more Americana, down-home element, perhaps a result of his summer collaboration with Pete Seeger. A balance was struck between coherence and variety; nothing seemed out of place – not too pop, not too folksy – but he kept things interesting. The constant switching of guitars between songs wasn’t just some flashy move but really indicated the concert’s breadth.

They left the stage after 90 minutes or so and came back for three or four rounds of encores – a kind of neat microcosm of Springsteen and the E Street Band’s collaborative trajectory. You might think that was the last – and how good it was! A great note to end on! – but then, of course, they come back for more. And more, and more. No one was going to complain about that; the deep, collective rumblings of “Bruuuuuuce” reverberated through the Civic Center until the lights finally came back on and concert-goers left that magic behind and returned to the real world.

    Toad’s kicked off a semester of noteworthy hip-hop acts last night with an impressive performance by a lineup of Rhymesayers artists, including indie superstar Atmosphere.

    Supported by a live band and sporting disheveled hair and a creepy mustache, Atmosphere was in fine form, giving fans unfamiliar but still excellent renditions of his most-loved songs, including “God Loves Ugly,” “Woman With the Tattooed Hands,” and new favorite “Sunshine.” Performing for more than an hour, he gave the crowded venue filled with a surprisingly equal mix of students and New Haven residents a performance well worth the $20 ticket. Although Atmosphere came most alive when singing old favorites, the crowd responded well to his new songs too, particularly the achingly sweet “Music Box.”

    Fans waiting to see Atmosphere, though, had to sit (or rather, stand) through a seemingly unending series of opening acts — 2 hours’ worth.  Mac Lethal, a Kansas City native whose act consisted mostly of listing things he hates — Fergie, Nickelback fans, Republicans—was particularly good, but restless concert-goers had to endure three separate appearances by Luckyiam, a mediocre, top-hat wearing performer whose high point was the beginning of his act, in which he rapped to the theme song from Showtime’s “Weeds.”

    Atmosphere was preceded directly by Seattle’s Grayskul, which consisted of two MCs, a bassist and a DJ. Grayskul had impressive beats but lacked the charisma necessary to justify their hour-long appearance. Still, despite the wait, it was a lineup that provided some memorable moments and appealed to fans of Atmosphere’s work.

    New Haven-area hip-hop fans have much to look forward to in the next few months. After a spring studded with shows with Talib Kweli and Clipse, Toad’s is following with RJD2 on October 17^th, and its “Hip-Hop Live” show November 15^th will feature Brother Ali, Rakim, and Ghostface Killah.

Listen to Atmosphere at http://www.myspace.com/atmosphere

Regrettably, summer 2007 is already little more than a blur with only a few things standing out:

1) I read many blogs at work, though what was discussed in said blogs, I cannot recall

2) Michael Vick

3) The abomination that was the “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” Epilogue

4) Buying my very own metallic blue Fender P Bass — my very first eBay transaction that did not involve American Idol tickets

Though I’ve yet to join a band, I did support several other bands this summer - not by legally purchasing their music, but by purchasing a ticket to their summer tours. Here are some of the highlights…

The warm up: Coachella Valley Music Festival, Indio, CA, April 27-29

Nothing complements rock n’ roll like a sweltering sun. For three days, I braved gridlock traffic, 110+ degree heat and every LA-area prep school hipster to feast on a veritable pantheon of music styles and genres. The acts were as diverse as Hot Chip, Manu Chao and Lupe Fiasco, the performers as old as Willie Nelson and as green as Lily Allen and the set lengths anywhere from Air’s 20-minute disappointment to Rage Against the Machine’s too-long reunion set.

James Murphy and the rest of the LCD Soundsystem joint took the prize for the best set of the weekend. Though they performed in the “rave” tent, complete with spinning disco balls, flashing lights and ecstasy, the most arresting song of the evening was the mellow finale: “New York I Love You But Your Bringing Me Down.” Following LCD that evening were the Brooklyn punks of The Rapture, who kept the beat strong and the limbs shaking. Other standouts include Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Lupe Fiasco (all three of which performed on the main stage) and Ratatat (who blew everyone away).

(More after the jump)