I had to make the trek to L.A. to see Jim James on his solo tour because he (unsurprisingly) skipped San Diego. Worth it for sure. I had checked previous set lists to see what he has been playing. The first portion of the show is the solo album Regions of Light and Sound of God in its entirety and then an encore of My Morning Jacket and Monsters Of Folk songs. Here’s the set list:

Jim James
Fonda Theatre
Los Angeles, CA
5/11/13

State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)
Know Til Now
Dear One
A New Life
Exploding
Of the Mother Again
Actress
All Is Forgiven
God’s Love to Deliver

Encore:
Bermuda Highway (solo acoustic MMJ song)
Wonderful (solo acoustic MMJ song)
Dear God (MOF song with Conor Oberst)
His Master’s Voice (MOF song)
The Right Place (MOF song)
Losin’ Yo Head (MOF song)
Changing World (New Multitudes)

I’ve seen MMJ at least 5 times and I knew that Jim James would bring it and I was not disappointed. Plus I was surprised that he plays sax - seriously, how cool is that? Of the solo material, my faves were the set opening “State of the Art” and then “A New Life”. I totally dug the peacock-like LED lights going on throughout the show - check out the instagram photos from the Fonda to see what I mean. Just totally cool. I was super happy to see “Bermuda Highway” and “Wonderful” on previous show set lists and was even more excited to realize these were the solo acoustic songs in the set. The crowd really appreciated “Wonderful” and sang along to the chorus. When “Dear God” started, JJ went to the side stage and there was someone in his trademark cape. Of course, it was Conor Oberst. The crowd really freaked out at that point - I know there are a lot of CO groupies (I’m not one of them) and I have to admit, that was pretty cool. A night of wonder to be sure.

Bonus Gaslight Anthem show in Houston. Set list….

Gaslight Anthem
House of Blues Houston
4/25/13

High Lonesome
The 59 Sound
Handwritten
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
Biloxi Parish
Blue Dahlia
The Patient Ferris Wheel
Queen of Lower Chelsea
45 
Too Much Blood
Film Noir
Here Comes My Man
We Came To Dance
Señor and the Queen
Mae
Great Expectations
Keepsake

Encore:
National Anthem (Brian acoustic with Matt Mays)
Mullholland Drive
Desire
Here’s Looking At You, Kid
The Backseat

I went from never seeing Gaslight Anthem to seeing them twice in one week. Go figure. Now that I knew what to expect, I made my way to the floor by the sound booth and was ready to rawk. Set list was different than Monday night though they pretty much played the same core if songs. The biggest difference was that Brian barely talked to the crowd. I wasn’t feeling the crowd vibe like I did at the Belly Up so I get that. It was so bad that when Brian decided to talk at the beginning of the encore, you couldn’t hear him over the crowd. Brian gave up, called the crowd rude and just launched into “National Anthem”. He was joined by the opener, Matt Mays, after the first verse. The rest of the band came out after and finished off the great encore.

This is gonna have to be a quick and dirty recap because I am on a plane in a few. First time seeing Gaslight Anthem live and was totally wowed. Set list first:

Gaslight Anthem
Belly Up Tavern
Solana Beach, CA
4/22/13

High Lonesome
The 59 Sound
Handwritten
Even Cowgirls Get The Blues
We Came To Dance
Old Haunts
American Slang
Biloxi Parish
Blue Dahlia
Senor and the Queen
Mae
1930 
45 
Queen of Lower Chelsea
Too Much Blood
Great Expectations
Keepsake

Encore:
National Anthem (Brian acoustic)
Desire
Mullholland Drive
Here’s Looking At You, Kid
The Backseat

A good, long set, different from recent set lists, which is cool. I really enjoyed Brian Fallon’s stage banter. He was super funny - self-deprecating, sarcastic and just interesting to listen to. Someone screamed out “Jersey” early during the set and he told everyone that “Jersey sucks. That’s why all the songs are about getting out.” And when some chick screamed “I love you!”, he told her that he was like a puppy - “a good idea at first but then you have to live with a wreck and that isn’t any fun” or something to that effect.

The crowd was super bro-tastic and lots of first pumping going on. Security was dragging the moshers out of the floor, which everyone seemed to appreciate. Loved hearing the dudes sing along too, it was a good feeling out on the floor.

My faves from the set were “We Came To Dance”, “American Slang”, “Too Much Blood”, “National Anthem” (super with just Brian acoustic) and “Desire”. But really, a stellar set and a great live introduction to this band.

I’ve always had fun at Tegan and Sara shows. They are always super engaging with their banter and just generally put on a good show. Of course, this set was packed with songs from their latest album Heartthrob but they threw in a bunch of old faves too. Set list went like this….

Tegan and Sara
Humphrey’s
San Diego, CA
4/17/13

I’m Not Your Hero
I Was A Fool
I Couldn’t Be Your Friend
Goodbye Goodbye
Back In Your Head
The Con
Walking With A Ghost
Arrow
Shock To Your System
Love They Say
How Come You Don’t Want Me
Living Room
Where Does The Good Go
Alligator
Drove Me Wild
Now I’m All Messed Up
Closer

Encore:
Call It Off (acoustic)
Nineteen (acoustic)
Feel It In My Bones (Tiesto ft. Sara)

From looking at prior sets, this is the standard on this tour, but like most T & S shows, there is always something you can’t predict. For this show, it was Sara forgetting the words to “Alligator”. She had everyone stop playing and told us that she saw her shoe untied and thought she should stop to tie it but she didn’t. And then she forgot the words! Ha. Shoe tied, words remembered, the show went on.

Early in the show, everyone was still sitting down, but Tegan egged us on to stand up, so we did and it was way better. As an old lady, I like the option to sit, but shows are meant to be enjoyed while dancing around and singing along (of course!), so yay on last night’s crowd.

Loved that the set list had alternated between old faves and new material. Getting “Back In Your Head/The Con /Walking With A Ghost” in so early was great. And the new material sounds great live - I especially liked the “Drove Me Wild /Now I’m All Messed Up” combo.

So in summary, Tegan and Sara are awesome live. But I’ve been telling you guys that for years!

Seriously, I am so mad at myself for not checking into set times before heading to the show last night, because I missed half of Star’s opening set. But what I actually was there for was lovely. Partial set list…..

Stars
(opening for Tegan and Sara)
Humphrey’s
San Diego, CA
4/17/13

(insert missed songs here)
Elevator Love Letter
Going, Going, Gone
Your Ex-Lover Is Dead
Backlines
Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It

If you’ve been to a show at Humphrey’s, you know how it goes. Everyone sits down unless some brave souls stand or the artist eggs you on (more on that in the T & S post). But even though everyone was sitting, the crowd was still singing along and definitely not talking though the set. Torq and Amy didn’t banter much - though they did make some comment about Al Jarreau’s photo in their dressing room. Only olds like me got that one! But yes, still a lovely time and I did get a good half set of songs, so really, I can’t complain.

Fresh from their Coachella gig, The Faint spent last night doing what they do best - engaging a room full of people to dance and lose themselves in the moment. Glad I was there to be part of it. Set list first:

The Faint
The Observatory
Santa Ana, CA
4/15/13

The Conductor
The Geeks Were Right
Desperate Guys
Glass Danse
Total Job
Victim Convenience
I Disappear
Take Me To The Hospital
Dropkick the Punks
Call Call
Violent
Posed to Death
Evil Voices
Worked Up So Sexual

Encore:
Let The Poison Spill From Your Throat
Agenda Suicide
Paranoiattack

This was my first time at the Observatory and I totally dug the space. It’s an old theatre and has great sightlines and sound. The Faint played for a little over an hour. Todd Fink was as engaging as ever - I just love watching him perform (because, really, he is performance art) and it just makes me really into the show. The set list had some “deep tracks” that they learned for the Danse Macabre tour and I have to say that these tracks are crazy good live (“Total Job” and “Violent” stand out for me.) Of course, when the standard show faves get played, the crowd just goes crazy and that makes for a good time for all. Super worth the drive to the OC for an hour of Faint bliss.

If you’re not going to Tegan and Sara and Stars on Wednesday, consider catching them at Fluxxx (though we know SD Faint shows are never as good as their other California counterparts…not the band’s fault, definitely a crowd issue.)