Music you should listen to...Bash Bro

Louie Bash, one of the minds behind local band "Shades" has a new side project along with Ryan Flowers called "Blurred-Vision."  Right now they have a couple of tracks up on Soundcloud that are rad and deserve a listen.  We've also reposted "Clear Motions," the debut album from Shades in case for some reason you ain't never heard it yet.  Keep up the good work Louie.

Beach House + the Egyptian= Super Awesomeness

Indie band, Beach House, came to the Egyptian Theatre Friday night and tore everybody a new one.  I decided to leave the DSLR at home in order to test out the camera on my new iPhone 5 (yes, now I think I am better than you:).  I have attached some pics along with an epic encore video from the show. In addition I have included some observations from the show.

Observation:  Opening band Poor Moon is very talented, but definitely not going on my next "pump me up work out mix."  With the band consisting of some members of Fleet Foxes, that should be a given.

Observation: The Egyptian is such a rad place to see a concert.  This was a perfect place to see a band like Beach House, who have out-grown smaller venues like the Neurolux and are too cool to be seen at The Knitting Factory.  The atmosphere brings back childhood memories of seeing movies with the family and I would assume makes for a memorable place for the artists to perform.

Observation: Lighting and visual effects make a huge difference.  I have a hard time sitting through shows these days if the band doesn't have some form of high tech lighting going on during their set.  I am not talking pyrotechnics at a Whitesnake concert, but after after seeing shows with the good stuff, it is hard to go back to just some plain old spotlights.  Side Note:  I was hoping for more out of those four big boxes behind the band with the fans in them.  Still, the show had a pretty sweet setup.

Observation:  Beach House sounds amazing live.  The Baltimore band is definitely a band that can match the sound quality of their live show with their albums.  Vocalist Victoria Legrand's distinct vocals were always on point and complimented perfectly by co-founder Alex Scally's catchy guitar riffs.  The band bounced back and forth between break out album "Teen Dream" and newer critically acclaimed album "Bloom."

Observation:  Victoria Legrand can wail.  I've always been a fan of her voice because I thought it was original.  However, Legrand is not limited to raspy ethereal sounds.  During the track "Real Love," a song that had never really stood out to me, Legrand hit some notes that were ridiculously impressive.  During the encore I recorded a video and I was pretty sure my new phone was going to explode.

Observation: The iphone takes pretty decent video.  What really impressed me was the sound quality.  This was the first video I've taken with it so I didn't know how to focus at first with the change in lighting.  The video below is from the encore performance of "Irene."

Just hearing the word Treefort gets us excited.

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I've always wanted to do this to one of these stickers

Add Queue to your queue

Or just listen to the new album by local hip hop artist Queue via his Bandcamp page.

Bear Crossing: Lucky 13th

Bear Crossing

On Wednesday the 26th, we stumbled into the Liquid Lounge around 10pm, and amidst the people that had come to watch some amateur stand up comedy sit three gentlemen in a booth patiently awaiting for their debut show in good ol Boise, Idaho.  If you weren’t in the bar for comedy you would have no idea that this grandeur band, Bear Crossing, was about to take the stage.  With only a small Facebook invitation for promotion, Bear Crossing took the stage to beat the odds and win us over with their power ballots and incredible anthems.  

Bear Crossing is on their first tour, and decided to bless us with their new album “Our Friend, Hope.”.  This album is filled with political messages hidden within their face-melting metal beauty.  With lead singer Jason Eure exercising his wide range of vocals, it’s no wonder this band is regularly compared to such bands as Muse, and Mars Volta.  As soon as Liquid was graced with their first song, it was apparent that this band will soon be greeted with a much larger venue in the near future.  
After closing with their single “Kings”, we got to meet these gentlemen from Virginia.  “13 shows in 13 days…”.  This is what Jason explained to me, after apologizing if he sounded a “little off”, which he didn’t.  Like most up and coming bands, this humble trio is touring on their own, selling their own merchandise hoping to make it to the next town.
I recommend you snag their album at a steal of a price of seven dollars… that is if you are into good music.  I wish you good luck Jason, Mason, and Robbie.  We hope to see you back in Boise in the near future, until then, good luck winning others over, although I don’t think you will have too much trouble. Check out their website to give them a listen or you can right below as well. www.bearcrossingtheband.com      

Jason Eure

Bear Crossing

Jason Eure

Tegan and Sara: No Alligator Tears in Boise

Tegan and Sara

We were fortunate to have our good friends over at Proof Eyewear invite us out to the Knitting Factory to enjoy the always entertaining Tegan and Sara. We've seen them before once at Sasquatch in 2008 and knew from then that there performance would be a commanding presence in a smaller venue like the Knit.  In a packed house you could sense the anticipation as the crew set up their equipment. From the time they took the stage to when they ended their encore, they had the crowd at full attention, listening and following their every move on stage. The show was a collection of their hits including; "Alligator", "Walking with A Ghost", "Where Does the Good Go", among the others, but the real treat to the fans was the introduction to some of their new stuff of their upcoming album "Heartthrob" being released in January. The crowd was introduced to four new songs, their first single "Closer" (which you can get off iTunes), "Now I'm All Messed Up", "I was a Fool", and "I'm Not Your Hero".  The crowd was very receptive to these new tunes and if the album as a whole is similar to these, "Heartthrob" will be a huge success with their fans. There new stuff is very melodic and really allows you to embrace the more synthesized side of Tegan and Sara. It's a direction fans may not be used to but after talking with them, they believe it will allow their fans insight on another side of their music that fans haven't had the full experience of enjoying yet.

We got the pleasure of meeting Tegan and Sara backstage after the show.  One of the main questions we had for them is "Why Boise?". They wanted to do a headlining show before they hopped on tour with other bands such as; The Shins, Black Keys and The Killers. It came down to a choice between Boise and Salt Lake City. When they chose to come to Boise most of the people around them questioned their decision. They told us that the last time they played in Boise in 2005 the fans provided them with such good energy and open arms, that they knew they had to make it back. Overall, the concert was a great time for everyone in attendance and not one person left the building with an ass, as they had all been danced off on the floor, including ours. Thanks again for all the hospitality from Tegan, Sara, and their whole crew. Also a shout out to the our friends over at Proof Eyewear for helping promote how lucky we all are to live in a place like Boise. 

Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara

Tegan and Sara

Bang Zoom Pow: Radioactive leftovers, zombie attacks, and a bunch of friends who have never met

We wanted to share with the world an amazing project that one of our good friends, Steve Clark, is involved in.  It's called Bang Zoom Pow and comes from the creative mind of Ty Mabrey and it will keep you entertained and laughing for hours. They are currently working on putting out two weekly projects, as well as some monthly features as well. The first is a video series called "Best Vs. Worst". This weekly series puts into perspective the the best and worst case scenarios for some everyday and somewhat unusual life situations, like zombie attacks, home invasions and more.  This series has just started but each one has had that laugh out loud moment you look for. I can't wait to see what else they come up with for "Best Vs. Worst".

Characters of "Gamer Scores"

What happens to a group of friends online (that have never met in person) when they have to face the real world? "Gamer Scores" is an animated series that follows a group of characters from various walks of life, who find camaraderie playing games together online and learn how to live their lives fully offline. Then when they do make it into the real world their goal is to unlock real life "achievements". A really great concept that will relate not only to anyone that has ever played video games but also to anyone that has had that gamer friend. The first "Gamer Scores" will be released this weekend so make sure to Like their Facebook page to be one of the first to watch it when its released!

Everything so far the Bang Zoom Pow team has put out has provided me with that source of entertainment you crave when you just wanted to put something on you know is going to make you laugh. Make sure to subscribe to their YouTube page as well to have easy access to these moments of laughter we all crave when scouring the internet.Here is also a link to their website that will lead you to all the various ways to follow them and what they are up to. www.bangzoompow.com How else will you know what the best case scenario is to eating radioactive leftovers.

Gettin' "silly" this Thursday

We are excited to be a part of an event going on this Thursday night down at Boise's coolest new bar, The Silly Birch.  The Birch is located where Mac n' Charlie's used to be and for you old ballz, The Hanger.  The event is a promotional event for Payette Brewing Co. who will be shelling out some koozies and pint glasses for people who purchase a pint or can of Payette Brewing craft beer.  There will be live music from Jac Sound starting around 8pm.  

In addition there will be a t-shirt contest, where local creative types can design a t-shirt for The Silly Birch.  The deadline for this is tomorrow (9/25) so head over to the Facebook event page for more details on how to participate.

Last but definitely not least, The C.O.T. shop will be at the event and is fully stocked with locally inspired merchandise, including our brand new WOMEN'S TANK TOPS.  The ladies have spoken and they want tank tops, so we have delivered.

The event goes from 7pm to 10pm and is Thursday 9/27 so skip Seinfeld, Friends, and ER and head down to The Silly Birch and get silly with us.

Washed Out w/Shades Pics from da Reef

Awesome show Friday night at The Reef.  Thanks to our pals Shades and of course Washed Out for damn good time.

Washed Out

Washed Out

Washed Out

Shades