Musical Monday, err Thursday: Oppa GOTR style

Forgive me for the bandwagony style title, but I just had to find a way to nod to one of the most interesting pop music hits of the year, Gangnam style. I also need to apologize b/c whoops, it's already the 13th and I've not posted yet this month... That's 2 Musical Mondays I've missed. APOLOGIES! 

Now that that's over with the real theme behind today's post is the Gentlemen of the Road Stopover Tour. Basically this summer, Mumford & Sons coordinated 4 awesome music festivals nationwide, highlighting the musical history of the four cities. I went with friend to the Bristol, TN/VA Stopover, heard great music, went antiquing, saw more mustaches than I could count, and had a great time!

They even had lovely little photo-shoot opportunities set up, and a mustache on a helicopter!

I'm also doing something new and using only live versions of the song, since that's how I experienced them-slash-now have them on the compilation CD.

HAIM: Go Slow

I was able to see part of their performance at Bristol, but unfortunately not this song. So I'm super stoked to have the live-recording version from the compilation CD. I actually like the live version better than the recorded one, there's a much more 80s synth-tastic vibe and the vocals intertwine into an awesome tapestry of awesomicity =)

Dawes: A Little Bit of Everything

I was also lucky enough to see Dawes play at Bristol and they were great! This is a nice mellow jam about an attempted suicide, regret-fueled binge-eating, & the power of love, you can close your eyes and sway to.

The Very Best: Kondaine

Now after that downer, it's Super-party-dance-time! They look like they're having so much fun and its hard not to catch their infectious smiles and let the beat carry you to at least a bit of shoulder dancing.

Gogol Bordello: Start Wearing Purple

An oldie but goodie. They weren't at Bristol so I can only imagine what this was like live. Seeing the footage from this 2007 concert I'm sure it was pretty crazy!

Mumford & Sons-Below My Feet

One of their newer tracks. I can't get enough of the lyrics "keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn." While their chord progression remains predictable by now (you can say that about most any rock/pop artist though), it is predictably wonderful and one of my favorite things is shout-singing along to the "Ahhhs," creating and weaving in my own version of harmonies, so it's different every time. Their music also makes me happy in a way few other artists can. Also, this has a brief intro by Joseph Gordon Levitt so if it's not your type of music you can  just watch the first 3 seconds on repeat for awhile =)

Did you go to any great live shows or music festivals in 2012? Or is there any concert that stuck with you for awhile, I'd love to hear about it in the comments, or follow me on twitter for more music updates: @itzbizr

"State of the Art" is an Understatement: GOTYE & KIMBRA IN CONCERT!

 

Kimbra joining Gotye for "Somebody That I Used to Know"

"Come into My Head" and "Save Me" cause I might need to "Settle Down" after seeing this "State of the Art" concert with my "Eyes Wide Open", my "Heart's a Mess" with joy and there's no "Easy Way Out"! Gotye and Kimbra, "Thanks for Your Time"! We arrived full of "Good Intent,"  to bask "In Your Light" for just awhile, and we got something way more exciting than a "Bronte" novel.  You see, between us "Love is a Two Way Street" all the way from Kimbra's shimmy-shaking "Limbo" moves and "Cameo Lover" appearance on "Somebody That I Used to Know" to Gotye imploring us to "Learnalilgivinanlovin." "The Only Way" it could have been better was if you had come out to meet us fans after the show (or if you played "The Only Thing I Know," or just more songs)!

Me and my two AWESOME sisters before the concert. 

So I have been looking forward to this concert since an e-mail conversation July 7-10, 2011 WITH GOTYE HIMSELF!  I had just discovered "Somebody That I Used To Know," and bought a copy ASAP from the website.  Unfortunately since I use my older laptop for all my music (this new one is strictly Law School and Photos, I want as little chance of a crash as possible, so far so good), I had issues downloading the song and just so I could stop streaming it online on REPEAT(REPEATREPEAT!) I e-mailed the person in charge of orders. Got a great and quick response, (considering this person was halfway around the world), and after figuring out the issue, this person went out of their way and made sure I got the song, problem solved.

Then I realized that I had no idea how to buy the CD when it would be released August 19, 2011 in Australia so I sent another email a couple days later.  Imagine my shock and complete freeze-up/freak-out when I received this response:

Hi Julia

Thought I'd just answer myself, you can get the my direct experience :)

...

Thanks very much for your support and interest. Where in the States do you live? I hope I'll see you there sometime soon
Looking like I'll be doing some small shows in LA and NY around October

Cheerio

Wally 

I composed myself the best I could and sent out some semi-coherent string of words basically trying to convey how AWESOMELY STAR-STRUCK I WAS without seeming star-struck and being really gracious and praising while staying cool about it (I think it took a good hour before I hit send).  His response the fact I lived in Virginia, and asked him to come to DC was as follows:

Cheers Julia *(I seriously think I swooned at this)

Hope to see Virginia sometime, maybe 2012 is the year! But yes, keep your eye out for NY date and perhaps see you there first

Thanks again for your interest
Wally 

I spent the next few months listening to Making Mirrors, developing my Rock-Opera using the tracks from Like Drawing Blood, following @Gotye, @Kimbramusic, and @timshiel (Gotye's band member) on Twitter and SoundCloud, hyping "Somebody That I Used to Know" on Facebook, and trolling his website for show announcements (Not a creeper, just a super-fan).  Indeed 2012 was the year and as soon as tickets opened mid-December for this date, I dropped everything, got my sisters on board and bought the tickets!  And then couldn't stop smiling FOREVER!

Through this time, I also became a big fan of Kimbra and her music, the way that girl just feels the music and just let's her emotion and spill out her whole body while belting those lyrics is inspirational.  When she announced she would be joining the tour in DC, I probably got another cramp in my jaw from smiling too much.

So my sisters agreed they liked the music and were pumped to go.  I drove up from Richmond and we headed into DC for the concert.  They were awesome-sauce and promised to wait up to 90 minutes after the show so I could try to get an autograph (even though I already had the signed version of the album).  So now here's what you really came for, the concert recap:

Kimbra was a bubbly, bellowing, ball of FANTASTIC frenetic energy!  Not to forget, that girl can SING!  She played her better-known songs as well as 2 I hadn't heard before, never stopping her swirly, spastic, animated dancing.

Kimbra takes the stage to sing "Cameo Lover", her band was TIGHT! Also, check out the drummer's hair, early-90s-SWAGtastic! 

She moves like nothing else, drastically-spastically-WONDERFUL! 

Kimbra and I are BEST FRIENDS, see she took a picture with me! 

I think she might've bruised her arm with how hard she was shaking that tambourine!

Gotye takes the stage to "Eyes Wide Open"

Playing that synthesizer-sampler-button-thing, whatever it's called

Easy Way Out

Let's just pretend that microphone is my face? K, thanks (just kidding (not really!))

Wally got some dance moves too!

Jammin' to "Save Me" He actually got the audience to help sing the "yeah-ee-yeah-ehhhs," and it sounded pretty awesome.  You can catch my amateur tribute to it here

No, really, Thanks for Your Time!

 "Now and then I think of" how GREAT THIS WAS!

Unfortunately, even after skillfully and somewhat forcefully worded request that the audience quiet down for the sad, slow, soft "Bronte"; there were enough people there who seemed to only care to see the song that is an internet sensation, and not at all for enjoying the music (I'm talking to you, stupid drunk girls behind us).  Rather abruptly, Gotye bid us "Cheers" and adieu and left... 

Luckily he came back for a three-song encore!

Sing it, bruthah!

Too excited to even care that I look like a cheezing dweeb, but seriously though it was awesome!

Learnalilgivinanlovin!!!!!!

Look it's Michele and P-Dunc...  we met up after the show and briefly thought of trying to pass him off as Gotye's cousin to get on the bus (apparently he caused a few double-takes before Gotye went onstage)...

This is Ben, he plays the guitar, the electric mandolin, and the "steel-stringed-lap-guitar," I saw him outside the bus and decided we would be friends.  We bonded over a mutual love of mandolins, Appalachia, and the fact that I caught him searching his suitcase for clean undies...

Unfortunately, we also learned from Ben, after waiting with my sharpie and poster and two very tired sisters who had to work the next day and were troopers about my obsession  love for this Belgian-Aussie's music, that Wally took a nap after the show, and had yet to awaken.  It was the only disappointment of an otherwise perfect day!