I'll admit it, I was a little nervous about this show, especially after being so thoroughly rocked by the Arcade Fire.  My excitement about the Pumpkins reunion had been on a slow decline since about a month after Billy first announced it.  As much as I defend calling it the Pumpkins without James or D'Arcy, it was a blow to my enthusiasm to find that out.  The more announcements I read about the new album, the less jazzed I grew.  Then I failed to get swept up in the first two singles.  Then the MySpace tribute, and so on.  In all this pessimism, I forgot one thing: Billy Corgan puts on a damn good show.  It's just a thing that he does.
My two biggest concerns were that Billy would treat this as (a) a greatest hits tour or (b) a 'hey, listen to our new album!  It's new!' tour.  It really just felt like a Smashing Pumpkins show, and I was happy with that. 
There was a fair amount of new stuff, but it didn't really feel forced.  "United States" makes a great intro, especially with the extended jamming and a little "Star-Spangled Banner." "Tarantula" is rockin' live, as I suspected, but the real surprise of the new songs was "Starz."  When I listened to the album, this track seemed really sub-par, but it fit really well into the live show, right between "Today" and "Zero."  While none of the new songs sounded too forced, I did notice that "United States" sounded quite a bit like "Lucky 13" [from Machina II] and "That's the Way My Love Is" was reminiscent of "Try, Try, Try", but that might just have been my headspace at the time.
Something I really appreciated was the presentation of songs that we hear all the time, but are still anticipated.  Rather than deprive the audience of "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" like wanted, it simply got re-worked a little, being sped up and starting with the bassline rather than the legendary vampire line.  I really didn't want to go see the Smashing Pumpkins so I could hear songs I hear on the radio anyway, but this was enjoyable.  I remember when I was young and more stupid than I currently am, hearing my friends praise live performance that sounded just like the album.  They were stupid.  If I wanted to hear album versions I'd not go to shows.  Three songs especially got reworked well: "Heavy Metal Machine," "Glass + The Ghost Children" and "Ava Adore."  Billy did "Perfect" and "1979" acoustic and alone, and it was super excellent, then the band joined in for "To Sheila."

The only Gish-era song they played was "Drown," but it was very much appreciated, especially when I think about reports of Incubus snubbing S.C.I.E.N.C.E and Make Yourself in favour of material written after they got popular.  And the Pumpkins have a lot more material than Incubus.
It wasn't everything I hoped and dreamed it would be, but I had some far-fetched hopes.  It comes down to what I said earlier: Billy Corgan puts on a damn good show.  Re-forming the Pumpkins just gave him a chance to play the old songs again.
Final Verdict: rockin'!  Also, "Muzzle" as a final encore wins the day.

For more Smashing Pumpkins/Zwan/Star Children/The Marked information than you'll ever need, go over to blamo.org.

Smashing Pumpkins // Myspace // Buy New Shit

Smashing Pumpkins - Muzzle Live MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Smashing%20Pumpkins%20-%20Muzzle%20Live.mp3]

There is no excuse — none whatsoever — to ever let an Arcade Fire show go by without attending.  Reschedule your wedding, it's worth it.  It's shamefully possible that you have never heard of the Arcade Fire, or maybe you've been caught in an awkward indie conversation where you've heard of them, but haven't heard them.  Let me tell you this: the word 'energy' scarcely describes what it is that the Arcade Fire deliver.  Imagine, if you will, ten crazy Quebecoise running around a stage playing instruments including, but not limited to, violin, French horn, xylophone, an aluminum standup bass, accordion, mandolin, and hurdy gurdy.  Also hitting pretty much anything available with a drumstick — errant cymbals, a marching tom, motorcycle helmets, the catch-all mics at the front of the stage, the lighting rig, each other.  The band loves what their doing so much that you cannot help but be dragged in.  Numerous instrument changes, sexy-but-not-slutty dancing, very tasteful multi-media and one of the best groups of concert-goers I've ever associated with.  The last two songs before the encore were "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" and "Rebellion (Lies)" and the end of "Power Out' built up to an insane pitch before the opening of "Rebellion" snuck in underneath it all.  Amazing.  I'll admit it, I only knew about four AF songs prior to the show, but it doesn't matter.  I'm including the three songs most necessary to get the most from the show.
So, I don't want to say too much about how awesome the show was because you'll stop believing me, but I would like to say that I don't know how Montreal could have contained all of this.  When David Bowie found them and brought them to major label attention, he just may have saved that town from exploding.
I'm sorry, Billy Corgan, but I don't think that even Mellon Collie-era Pumpkins could hold a candle to this show.  But I'm still excited to see what you've got.

Here's what my concert-going buddy Dave had to say about it…

Arcade Fire // Myspace // Buy Neon Golden

MP3eesies: 

Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Arcade%20Fire%20-%20Rebellion%20(Lies).mp3] 

Arcade Fire - Neighbourhood #3 [Power Out] MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Arcade%20Fire%20-%20Neighborhood%20Three%20Power%20Out.mp3]

Arcade Fire - Wake Up MP3

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/The%20Arcade%20Fire%20-%20Wake%20Up.mp3] 

I must say I was very impressed with Utah locals All About Rockets.  At a time when many local bands seems to be tributes to either Taking Back Sunday or, if they have keyboards, Panic! At the Disco, All About Rockets decided that they didn't need to bother with that.  Their sound comes from the bands that inspired them, like the Smashing Pumpkins and the Pixies.  Dave made a pretty accurate observation about frontman and bassist Joe Gibbs: "It looks like he really wanted to play guitar, but wanted to have the best band possible so he accepted playing bass."  It's pretty obvious from talking to Gibbs that his priority is simply good music, both listening to and making it.  The band makes great use of loud/soft dynamics and infuse bits of smooth jazz (that's not the right term, but it's what comes to mind) during some of the soft bits.  Also, they are the second band I've seen where the drummer plays keys while drumming one-handed (the keyboard was bought for $15 at a thrift store the day before, they were determined to work it into the set).  All About Rockets are heading off to Fresno to do a few shows, but will be back in Utah in August.  I suggest you check them out if you're in the area.

Apologies to Letters for Scarlett, I don't remember much from your set.  This mostly had to do with my habit of being late for shows at Kilby Court and missing most of it.  Sorry.

All About Rockets Official // MySpace // Grab Their CD

Rademacher Official // MySpace // Grab Their CD (New Album out this Fall)

This has been both the busiest and most satisfying concert season I've ever had, even with all the lateness and missing opening acts.  This exciting season of loving continued recently with my second Ozma concert in less than a year.  Before I get going on the concert, lemme just say again that Kilby Court rocks my socks all the way off.  There.  I said it.  Again.
First act of the night was former Something Corporate guitarist William Tell.  He plays nice poppy guitar-based musics, sometimes piano-y ones.  It reminded Dave of an edgier Counting Crows, although I'm sure he's forgetting just how raw and emotional Recovering the Satellites was [I'm not alone on this, right?].  What I thought of was when Weezer toured with The Fray a few years back, if those two bands somehow merged.  But without Weezer's quirky sense of humour.  Anyhow, I've included his single "Fairfax" for your consideration.
Next was a Portland group called Kaddisfly.  These guys really upped the energy level of the show, lemme tell you.  When I saw the guys and the set up I was half worried that we were in for thirty minutes of screamo sludge.  Not so!  The band is really quite interesting to watch; Christopher Ruff [vocals/piano] really made the most of that tiny stage, running about, smashing his cymbal, shaking his maraca, etc.  He also played an emergency flashlight.  Way cool stuff.  Speaking of multi-instrumentation, one guitarist played guitar [obviously], keyboards, and drums during the same song.  An impressive feat.  Kile Brewer [bass] is both a very nice guy and an obvious Primus fan.  Not that he said anything, or has thunder thumbs, but his five-string sits about belly high, not around his knees, he plays technical bits, and even has the Les Claypool stance going.
Usually you can kind of get a feel for what a band's about before they start playing, but New Years Day threw me for a loop.  The guitarists, Keith and Mike, looked very metal with their long hair and all blackness.  Keith even had some metal band's shirt on [the more metal the bands get, the harder their fonts are to read, so I couldn't tell who].  Then Adam and Russell [drums and bass, respectively] were in nappy tuxedo shirts, which indicated a genre more ironic than metal can muster.  During warm up we heard snatches of both NoFX and Rage Against the Machine songs.  Turns out they play music that's hard to categorize, not because it's so highly stylized that you don't have words for it, but because it's so simple.  You don't want to just call it rock because we have all these subgenres that go to waste if we do.  So, if I must, I guess they're a little pop punk.  Even littler emo tones.  Their singer's a girl, too, so that puts them in whatever category people put those bands in.  But the important thing is they put on a great show and Keith looks like Alan Ruck.  And if it's important to you, Ashely Costello is pretty cute, and Adam Lorbach used to be in Home Grown.  Their first album just came out, I kinda got flirted into buying it, so you'll get a review of that pretty soon.

Then there's Ozma.  They've got a new album out on Tuesday.  Hearing songs from it live made me realize that Ozma is a lot like AC/DC: they aren't all that interested in musical evolution, just rocking out; new albums are mostly an excuse to go back on tour.  And I really mean this in the best way possible.  I was going to buy the new Ozma record so I could be hip and review it before it's released proper, but, as I said, I got flirted into buying the NYD album.

Verdicts!

William Tell: Fairly good California pops.
Kaddisfly: Heady hardcore, kinda progressive.  Excellent live energies.
New Years Day: Very probably going to be hot business in the near future.  Super fun.
Ozma: Still rocking socks.  Also, Daniel Brummel is still the sweatiest manbeast ever, but he's learned his lesson and started wearing black.
Overall Final Verdict: Amazing tour, only a few dates left!

P.S. Sorry this one's a little wordy.  I'll do better next time.

Related Links:

Ozma Official MySpace // Buy CD

Kaddisfly Official Website // MySpace // Buy CD

New Years Day Official MySpace // Buy CD 

William Tell Official Website // MySpace // Buy CD

Related Audio:

New Years Day - I Was Right

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/01%20I%20Was%20Right.mp3] 

Kaddisfly - (Noyabr) Empire

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/07-kaddisfly-(noyabr)_empire.mp3]

William Tell - Fairfax

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/William%20Tell%20-%20Just%20For%20You.mp3] 

Ozma - No One Needs To Know

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/02%20No%20One%20Needs%20To%20Know.mp3] 

Shiny Toy Guns // The Rapture

Venue : In the Venue, SLC

Date: 05-02-07 

So you've already heard all the negatives about the STG show.  Now you get to hear about the good stuff, namely the performances themselves.
We showed up pretty late, yet again, but this time we didn't miss the opening act.  I'm so glad we did because the Rapture encapsulate all that is good about disco.  It doesn't matter how you feel about disco right now, what matters is that if you take everything that is good about any musical genre, it will be good sounds.  On top of that one member of the band, what you would call the keyboardist, is not needed on keyboards for every song.  During those songs he fills the roll of either saxophonist or percussionist.  And by percussionist I mean he dances around with a cowbell and beats it like nobody's business.  It's superb to view.  Also, his saxophoning is akin to that heard on the Beastie Boys track "Brass Monkey" [which I've decided to be the hyphy-est thing ever].  The Rapture are great, but they didn't adhere to the opening act standard practice of saving your biggest hit for the end of the set.  Not a big complaint, but it threw of the momentum of  the show.
Regarding the headliners, there are a lot of nice things that I want to say about Shiny Toy Guns and their live performance.  I hope I cover them all.
First of all, these people take every aspect of their music seriously.  I mentioned earlier that they scrapped the album We Are Pilots twice and redid the whole thing.  That sort of obsession spills over into their live shows, too, with fancy lightings, projections, and serious energy.  They also have and interesting positioning on stage.  Normally a four-piece band will be set up like a diamond, with drums in back, bass and guitar on left and right, and a charismatic frontman out in [surprise] front.  STG was, left to right, Mikey Martin [drums], Chad Petree [guitar, vox], and switching spots were Carah Faye [vox, keys, sometimes bass] and Jeremy Dawson [bass, keys].  I'm very, very, very glad they did this because Mikey Martin is one of the most entertaining people to watch ever.  Dude likes hittin' stuff.  And since a number of songs feature some kind of electronic beat in addition to his drumming, he has a lot of free space to work in.  Also, he enjoys spitting on his bandmates.

One of my favourite things about the set was that after they played "Le Disko" a good number of the dumber people at the show made their exodus, leaving the rest of us to enjoy the show.  "Le Disko", by the way, was dedicated to us in SLC, but then more specifically to Provo.  I have no idea why, and am immensely intrigued.  If anybody can tell me the reasonings, I shall repay you tenfold.  Also they gave shoutouts to X96 for being generally kick-awesome.

Results:
The Rapture: Superfun dancy sounds.  They like you very much.
Shiny Toy Guns: Amazing energetic times.  They've only got one album out, so their set was actually shorter than the Rapture's.  Got a cover of Depeche Mode's "Stripped" [a billion times better than Rammstein's], but no "When They Came for Us".
Final Verdict!: An amazing tour.  Both bands are brilliant, keep an eye on STG.

 Related Links:

 Shiny Toy Guns Official Website // MySpace // Buy Their CD

 The Rapture Official Website // MySpace // Buy Their CD

Related Audio:

You Are The One - Shiny Toy Guns

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/01%20You%20Are%20The%20One.mp3] 

When They Came For Us - Shiny Toy Guns

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/04%20When%20They%20Came%20For%20Us.mp3]

The Rapture - Mirror

[audio:http://lovethemusicreviews.com/audio/Rapture%20-%20Mirror.mp3] 

I don't have a lot of time right now, I'm on the cusp of a roadtrip, so I won't give you a full concert review just yet.  But I would like to voice a few grievances about other people attending the Shiny Toy Guns concert, similar to what a friend of mine did after the Shins concert.
Really, I would just like to say two things

1. If you are fortunate enough to get good positioning on the floor, stick with it.  Not everybody's lucky or punctual enough to get close to the stage.  If you are: Stay there!  Don't go bouncing back and forth and expect to get your spot back.  And shoving people out of the way, unless you're at a hardcore/punk/metal show where it's expected, is always rude.  I can understand if you aren't comfortable with the squishiness of being up front and want to back out.  That's fine.  Just don't run back to get a lollipop.
2. You look like a freaking moron.  All of you.  Dressing ironically terrible is only cool when they're actually ironic.  When there's a whole group of people with Euro-mullets, baby pony tails, too-tight pants, and dirt mustaches, there is a problem.  Way to try really hard to look like your not trying.  And, also, look like complete trash.

That's just some stuff that bugged me.  Next time you get to hear all the good stuff.  In the mean time, be nice to Jen and San Diego here I come.

[here's a preview of the review: it was awesome]