TrickyBuddha Studios

Yesterday we:

Drove into the city, listening to Earth to the Dandy Warhols all along the way. We went to Chicago to see It Might Get Loud and, despite crazy 3:30pm traffic, got there literally as the movie was starting.

The movie was great. It’s a documentary that looks at the playing and sound of three guitarists: Jack White (White Stripes), Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), and The Edge (U2).

Jimmy has a crazy history with music, playing since he was 5, playing professionally doing jingles and what-not. Then moving on to playing in bands, playing a style of rock that was not really known or popular at the time. They showed a clip of him surrounded by a collection of CDs and records and he said he would pour over them to pick up new sounds and techniques.

Jack started out focused on drums but switched to guitar for an early band, The Upholsterers. He mentioned that when he tried to find his sound, when he tried to dig deeper into guitar, it led him to the blues — how it was all minor chords and anti-establishment. He also said he likes to struggle. He wants his guitar out of tune, he wants to have to battle against it.

The Edge seemed to have stumbled across playing guitar and seemed more interested in the sounds he could make with it than anything else. He was big on effects and computers, and the documentary spent time with his guitar tech — talking about the knobs and fiddles he uses. The Edge said he liked to simplify and strip down to get at his sound, too.

The three of them talked a bit in a room, together, as well as jammed a bit on one another’s songs, when they weren’t individually discussing their playing and showing how they got where they are now. It was definitely a good documentary, entertaining and educational about a chapter of music.

After we finished, we walked around for an hour or two and then had dinner at the Counter. I went for the grilled chicken this time and have to admit it was much better than the burgers I had previously. Mmm…

From there, we hit Border’s and Starbucks to waste a little time, then went to the Empty Bottle to see Autloux — with Ken and Mychelle, and Tif and Brian and Bowser. I was so excited to see the band as I had never caught them in concert before and they are one of my favorites. The last show we went to at this spot was so loud that this time we bought ear plugs, so for me this was my first show with ear plugs in. They were a little weird to wear but my ears felt completely fine afterward. As for the show, Autolux was great. They played a dozen songs — and even played one of their songs twice. A string had snapped on a guitar and the band went on to finish the song while Greg fixed his string. Then someone in the crowd shouted out that the band should play it again with Greg this time, so they did. Haha. The band was somewhat smiley through the show and seemed to be having a good time.

After the show, Candice and I bought band tee shirts from Carla, the drummer, while Eugene, the singer and a guitar player, played Galaga next to us. Haha. It was a cute scene. And it’s always neat to stand around with the musicians you love who just put on a great show.

We capped off the night with a trip to Lazo’s Tacos with Ken and Mychelle where I got a delicious Mexican sausage and scrambled egg sandwich. Mmm…

I have not posted about new music in a while so I thought I would take a moment to mention a few new (to me) albums on the iPod, as well as some concerts on the horizon:

• The Dead Weather: Horehound. This is a band featuring Jack White (White Stripes, Raconteurs), Alison Mosshart (The Kills), Dean Fertita (Queens of the Stone Age), and Jack Lawrence (Raconteurs, The Greenhornes). They just released the album (July 2009). Some big names in rock. Still getting a feel for the album, but it seems good so far.
• The Dears: Missiles. It’s been out a little while (Oct 2008) but, like I said, it’s new to my iPod. I’ve really gotten into the Dears ever since we saw them live. What a great (Canadian) band. I need to listen to this one more to familiarize myself with it.
• The Cliks: Dirty King. Another Canadian band, parenthetically speaking of. They’re not widely known but they’re definitely worth checking out. Their new album came out about a month ago (June 2009).
• Wilco: Wilco (The Album). Another recent release (June 2009). I’m not much of a Wilco listener but their latest is on the iPod now so I’ll have to give it a few listens to see what I think. The Wilco Song is a catchy start to the album.

As for concerts, there are quite a few on the horizon!

• The Dead Weather is first on the list of shows, coming up at the end of this month. I’m looking forward to the show. It always helps me to get into new bands by seeing them live.
• They’re followed by the Warlocks in early August. We saw the Warlocks once before and that live performance hooked me on the band. They’re a slower, moodier kind of band but very good when you’re in the mood for that. I’m excited.
• Late August brings us Brendan Benson. I really know nothing about him, other than that he is in the Raconteurs, so that’ll be an introduction for me.
• At the start of September is the Dandy Warhols! Yay! I’ve seen them twice, and this time will make the third. It’ll be a road trip to a tiny club in Indianapolis to see them, but it’ll be worth it.
• And our current run of shows ends with Autolux. I am so excited to see Autolux. I completely overdosed on their first album when I first got it (it was the first album Candice recommended me to get, I think). Seriously. They’re in my top-ten listens of all time on last.fm, and 9-of-my-top-15 individual tracks are all Autolux. It’s going to be great to see them live for the first time. Hopefully their album, Transit Transit, comes out by then (but I’m not holding my breath).