A Thousand Suns

FIRST: When you hear the CD, listen to it all the way through, and make sure it's loud. Trust me. It's better.
SECOND: Here's what other people thought: Everyone accepted that it was a different approach. A lot of people made the connection though that some songs have those "old" and "hardcore" Hybrid Theory elements to them. A lot of people said it reminded them of that. On the other hand, the head of WB records said he noticed the CD was more of a "pushing the envelope" record instead of stepping back and incorporating old elements.
THIRD: Please play this CD loud.
FOURTH: Some of the songs we heard twice: Waiting for the End. Blackout. Wretches and Kings. Wisdom, Justice, and Love, Iridescent, The Requiem, The Radiance, Burning in the Skies.

FIFTH: Here's what we got courtesy of WBR, thanks!

Here is what you care about though:

1. The Requiem - This song is funny because it's actually Mike singing. I'm not saying what he sounds like, but when you hear it and think "Mike Shinoda" you can't help but laugh.
2. The Radiance - Interlude, kind of meh.
3. Burning In The Skies - This song. This song caught me from the start. The lyrics are real deep (to me) and I still remember them: "Swimming through the smoke of the bridges I have burned / Dont apologize / I'm losing what I don't deserve"
4. Empty Spaces - Another interlude. Sounds of crickets and marching and gun battles (like civil war)
5. When They Come For Me - I don't remember this song much but Chester had some amazing lyrics going on in this song.
6. Robot Boy - A really strong song. Mike sings in this one and its kind of like hes yelling at a little kid. 7. Jornada Del Muerto - An interlude. Kind of depressing because I was looking forward to this song a lot.
8. Waiting For The End - The next single. Kind of forgot about this song now though. =\
9. Blackout - Dear god. Chester screams his face off in this song. Its amazing. The last part of the song is awkward though on first listen. It transitions into a different sound and you think its the next track, but isn't.
10. Wretches And Kings - Oh dear lord. If you don't play this song at max volume then you can't judge it. Mikes rapping is ridiculous. Chester's singing is ridiculous. This song will MELT FACE LIVE.
11. Wisdom, Justice, And Love - Another interlude. This one is of a speech by MLK which gets more distorted as it goes on which leads into...
12. Iridescent - This is one of my favorite songs. It has some epic drumming (think Across the line / TLTGYA build up drumming) along with some sweet chanting, I guess? Really drew me in.
13. Fallout - Another interlude, but this one I liked. Mike took Chester's lyrics from "Burning in the Skies" (the lyrics from above) sang them, then distorted his voice. I thought it was cool.
14. The Catalyst - Lol you know.
15. The Messenger - Starts with acoustic guitar, then Chester singing with acoustic guitar, then some piano?

Coachella 2010

Coachelaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! It's a shame it's over, but I had a blast. The entire weekend felt like a non stop party. That's exactly what Coachella is. It's a 3 day party for thousands and thousands of people from noon to midnight. Everywhere you looked you would see people dancing, singing, and forgetting their troubles. Before Friday was over I had convinced myself I was going to come back next year. It was the longest weekend of my life, but I've never had more fun standing and waiting for my ears to be blasted by the sound of music. Below is a list of the bands I saw and the (not so) complete songs I recorded. Click on the song name to see the video.

FRIDAY:

Iglu and Hartly - In This City

Proxy

She and Him- I Put A Spell On You

Passion Pit - The Reeling and Sleepyhead

La Roux - In For The Kill

Vampire weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa and Cousins

Benny Benassi

Deadmau5 - Entrance and Video 1

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SATURDAY:

Temper Trap - Sweet Disposition

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes - Home

The XX - VCR

Coheed and Cambria - Welcome Home

Faith No More - Reunited and Epic

Muse- Hysteria and Stockholm Syndrome

Tiesto

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SUNDAY:

Matt and Kim - Good Ole Fashioned Nightmare, The Final Countdown, and Daylight

Club 75

Jonsi

Phoenix - Lizstomania

Thom Yorke

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Friday was the longest day. We got there at about 1 and had no idea what to expect. Iglu and Hartly was awesome and a great way to start everything off. Passion Pit definitely had the best performance of the day with Sleepyhead energizing everyone for the rest of the night.

Saturday, though, was the 2nd greatest 8 hour block of music I have been through. The only thing that mattered to me that day was Muse and being close enough to feel the energy of the crowd. Following Muse was Tiesto, and even though we sat waaaaaaaaaay in the back, he sounded AMAZING. However, it wasn't just the bands that made Saturday unforgettable, it was the realization of how much fun could be had in a parking lot jammed full of cars and people. All it took was a stupid idea and some parking cones to get us 15 minutes of fame.

The Steg-A-Prius was born. I suggested that we first put cones in front of cars just to see what would happen. We did that and couldn't stop laughing. The driver of the car we put the cone in front of got out of his car, put it in front of us, got in his car, and cut us off because he was too angry. He must have been having a rough night. Since the parking situation was so jammed, one car could have meant another 15 minutes waiting. To the right of us was open grass which led to the flow of traffic out of the lot. We decided to put cones perpendicular to this open lane so cars couldn't cut the rest of us off. Since the night was over, people were walking down this lane to get back to wherever they were staying, and some decided to mess with the cones. Someone in our car yelled "Hey, put that back asshole!" and they did put the cone back. Right inside of our car. We decided to put that cone back and thought that was the end of it.

10 minutes later, the same girl came back and put one cone on top of our car. Since we weren't moving, at all, we just decided to go with it. Fast forward to 20 minutes later and we have people placing cones on our car and taking pictures of the car because they thought it was amusing. It seems blasting Deadmau5 + having cones on a car = 15 minutes of fame. People were shaking our hands and dancing to the music with the occasional person sitting in front of the car taking a picture. We couldn't get enough of it.

Of course, since all good things have to end, security came down and rained on our parade. In the course of over an hour we had moved 20 feet with way too many cones on our roof. Security told us to put the cones back for some stupid reason. If only it could have lasted longer...

Sunday was the most laid back day. We got there around 4 and pretty much relaxed the entire day just trying to soak everything in. Following Thom Yorke we left before the massive amounts of traffic consumed us like they did Saturday. And just like that it was over.

Goodbye Coachella.

Coachella and 30 Seconds to Mars

Coa fucking chella. Ive always wanted to go and this is the first time going this year. The lineup is HUGE:


I am most excited for Muse, due to seeing them at KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas. Add that with Deadmau5, Tiesto, Benassi, Faith No More, Phoenix, and Frank turner and holy shit, you've got an awesome line up. I am going to have way too many videos to upload after that weekend.



30 Seconds to Mars were also at KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas 2009. That was the first time I saw them, and I wanted more. Their "Into the Wild Tour" is coming to LA in May, however their date is missing from the presale list, along with the on sale list. Both LA and Santa Barbara shows aren't anywhere to be seen, and tickets can't be bought yet. It's a shame, because I'm extremely anxious to see them again. Hopefully these tickets go on sale soon, because I definitely don't want to miss out.



Here's to 2010, and a fucking amazing year of live shows!