Of Monsters and Men @ Arlene Schnitzer 05/13/13

Posted on May 16, 2013 by logan_westom

Fresh off their recent TV performance on the famous late night show Saturday Night Live, Of Monsters and Men played their second show of their current North American Tour at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland Oregon, Monday night.

A little over a year since their global debut album release, Of Monsters and Men’s popularity has soared to great heights in a short time. Moving from selling out smaller venues across North America and the world, Of Monsters and Men now larger venues including their sold out concert at the majestic Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. Opening with the first song off their album “My Head is an Animal”, Of Monsters and Men began the night playing “Dirty Paws” behind a white sheet covering the stage. Blue lights from behind created rough silhouettes on the sheet as the band walked on stage. The soft picking of the guitar and melody of vocals played the first 50 seconds of the song before the sheet fell to the ground when the song picked up momentum. Cheers from the crowd erupted at the first sight of the band and stage. Hanging above the band were white fabric balls with rope attached to them hanging to the ground. After playing three songs to the crowd sitting in their seats. Lead singer Ragnar Porhallasson encouraged the audience to stand before the start of their next song. As soon as the band broke out into their second hit single “Mountain Sounds” everyone was on their feet. Many in the front row, clapping their hands and dancing with those around them. The energetic sounds of Mountain Sounds really got the night going. Followed were other fan favorites “King and Lionheart”, unreleased song “Beneath My Bed, and a cover of “Skeletons” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Each song fitting perfectly into the live performance of the concert.

Halfway through the set the band began my personal favorite song “Lakehouse”. A song with a great build up and ending with an abundance of energy. Each chorus slowly building up more energy then the one before. At the end of the final verse the song took a short 3 second before bursting in the final outtro of the song with a loud bang of confetti bursting from both sides of the stage. As the crowd screaming in excitement the band finished the song slowing fading into the background of screaming. As the stage lights turned off the house lights turned on to illuminate the crowd still cheering from the performance of “Lakehouse”. 30 seconds go by and the noise of fans cheering begins to get louder and without warning the house lights turn off and the stage light turn on and Of Monsters and Men erupt into their number on hit song “Little Talks”. An amazing transition and feeding off the adrenaline from the confetti and finish from “Lakehouse” the entire upper level of the concert hall began to shake. Such a great build up to the most anticipate song of the night. The night continued with “Six Week”, “Sloom” and a moody and toned down remix of “Little Talks” never preformed before that night. An incredible performance by a band with incredible music to share with the world.

Ending the night, Of Monsters and Men began “Yellow Light”. My first thought was they should have played one of their more obvious popular hit songs to end the night. But the more the song played the more appropriate the song choice made sense. The song highlighted the entire nights greatest moments. A soft, slow beginning, to building up to an upbeat ending with soft melody to ending the night. A perfect end to the debut album and a perfect end to the a wonderful night in front of Portland’s fans at the magical sold out Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

Set List:

Dirty Paws

From Finner

Slow and Steady

Mountain Sounds

Beneath My Bed

Your Bones

Skeletons

Love Love Love

King and Lionheart

Lakehouse

Little Talks

Six Weeks

Encore:

Sloom

Little Talks (Remix)

Yellow Light

Review and Photos by Logan Westom

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Mac Miller @ Springfest 2013

Posted on April 24, 2013 by logan_westom

Springfest 2013 opener E-40 brought the Bay area hyphy movement to the Palouse. E-40 presented a mix of old school classic rap, mixed with modern club rap to produce a high energy performance. He was able to draw the crowd in with his classic hit songs like Tell Me When to Go, and more modern hit singles like Function. He was engaging with the crowd, including the whole coliseum not just the floor. He left the crowd energized and pumped from his following act Mac Miller.
Mac Miller immediately revamped the crowd right when he stepped on stage. He drew in his loyal fans with his original music like Kool-Aid and Frozen Pizza, and other original hits. He then progressively worked through his albums Blue Slide Park, and Macadelic. He even went on to feature a song not yet released, Somebody Do Something, SDS. Throughout the show Mac paid tribute to 4/20 from his clothing sporting a cannabis hat and socks, to singing Bob Marley’s songs; No Women No Cry, and Everything’s Going to be Alright. Mac was able to enthusiastically engage the crowd throughout the show with songs like Knock Knock and Man in the Hat. He ended the show with a hit from Blue Slide Park, Missed Calls he departed from the stage. Mac was called back to the stage with an encore from the crowd. When he returned he was sporting a #12 WSU basketball jersey and waving a cougar flag. He went on to perform his most famous song Donald Trump. This was an exciting and high energy show, which was both engaging and entertaining for all of Beasley. Mac Miller proved to be an excellent showman keeping the crowd enthralled throughout the show, talking to them and telling stories about himself. All in all it was a great Springfest choice to bring a classic rap star E-40, and a more contemporary rising star Mac Miller to WSU.

Review: Anthony Dorsett

(Mac Miller // Photos by Logan Westom)

(E40 // Photo by Logan Westom)

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Preview: Mac Miller @ Springfest 2013

Posted on April 21, 2013 by logan_westom

Mac Miller headlined WSU’s Springfest concert in front of over 4,000 screaming fans at Beasley Coliseum Saturday April 20th 2013. Full review and more photos to come, for now enjoy these preview photos of Mac Miller and opening act E-40.

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Florida Georgia Line @ WSU 04/16/13

Posted on April 18, 2013 by logan_westom

Florida Georgia Line brought the southern style party and country music to Pullman on Tuesday night and blew the roof off the CUB. The single, craziest, loudest, most energetic concert thats ever been at the CUB kept country fans on their feet all night until the Cruise encore. The anticipation leading up to this concert could be felt throughout campus, especially Tuesday afternoon when the band was practicing in the CUB. The artists who won Best New Artist of The Year have wowed fans with their amazing album that has not one dull song to listen to and a complete track list of good times, partying, and country lifestyle. Outside the Ballroom, a winding line of country lovers made a statement with their clothing- almost every guy was wearing jeans and flannel and every girl tiny booty shorts and flannel tops.

Leading up to the grand entrance of FGL was a band from Seattle called Aces Up who brought sweet vibes and got the crowd into a twangy mood. The crowd’s mood continued to be lively during the rest of their performance as the sound of live country gave life to the Senior Ballroom. The crowd was insanely active, guys lifting girls on their shoulders and an excited mosh pit of rednecks pushing and pulling to try and be the ones closest to the stage to witness the country stars up close.

At last Florida Georgia Line made their grand entrance onstage and the crowd went roaringly wild. Between their hit songs that everyone belted out alongside the band, they would talk to the crowd, hype us up, and even do short covers on popular rap songs which really got people excited. Since every song on the album is equally awesome, the crowd never calmed down throughout the duration of the ten songs they sang. In between their known songs, they let us into their world and gave us a sneak peek of what could be some upcoming new music. The unrecognizable songs were immediately adopted by the audience with favor. The two main singers, Tyler and Brian, were very energetic and constantly reaching into the crowd and stepping to the edge of the stage to get people excited. They said it was the “loudest smallest group” they had seen which was a sweet compliment. During the performance of Dayum Baby, they pulled some of the best looking cougar country girls onstage, including several crimson girls, and had them dance and party to the beat. This got the guys in the crowd excited and the girls were equally riled up at the inclusion of fellow cougars onstage. By the end of the performance, there was a feeling in the air that something was missing- the most popular song, Cruise. The band took a quick break while the crowd gathered itself and began to build excitement for the final song. Finally, they blasted back on stage repping cougar gear to give the crowd the exact encore they were looking for. The wild, uproarious crowd hit its climax at the end with the performance of Cruise, and the song proved to be the perfect closer to a wild, very well done concert.

By: Jordan Onley

(Florida Georgia Line // Photos by Logan Westom)

(Aces Up // Photos by Logan Westom)

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Preview: Youngblood Hawke @ WSU

Posted on April 10, 2013 by logan_westom

What is better then a free outdoor concert in the spring with free giveaways from Sperry Top-Sider shoe company? Having Youngblood Hawke headline the concert, thats what! Youngblood Hawke preformed an energetic concert at Sperry’s College Vacationland Tour at the Washington State University Campus on Library Road Tuesday night with opening acts Pacific Air and Vacationer. Full photo gallery and review coming soon.

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