December 7, 2011

One Rock Is A Girl’s Best Friend reader will win a pair of tickets to see Tori Amos‘s sold out show at The Orpheum Theatre Saturday, December 17, 2011.

Here’s what you need to know to enter:

• The contest begins now and ends at 11:59pm  EST December 14, 2011
• TO ENTER: Visit Rock Is A Girl’s Best Friend on Facebook
• You will see there are several ways you can enter and you can get additional entries for each thing you choose to do. You can follow Tori Amos, tweet about the contest daily, like us on Facebook, and more. ENTER NOW
• Winner (1) will be selected by random.org and notified via email on the morning of December 15, 2011. Winner will have 5 hours to respond before a new winner is selected
• Your tickets will be available for pick up at Will Call at The Orpheum on the evening of the show. Photo ID will be required to pick up tickets
• Transportation and accommodations not included

About Tori Amos:

Tori Amos

At this stage, I’m assuming you know who Tori Amos is.  So what’s new? Tori’s latest album, Night of Hunters, was released in September.

Here’s how Tori describes the new record:

“It’s a 21st century song cycle inspired by classical music themes spanning over 400 years. I have used the structure of a song cycle to tell an ongoing, modern story. The protagonist is a woman who finds herself in the dying embers of a relationship. In the course of one night she goes through an initiation of sorts that leads her to reinvent herself allowing the listener to follow her on a journey to explore complex musical and emotional subject matter. One of the main themes explored on this album is the hunter and the hunted and how both exist within us.”

Tori is currently on tour to support the album, including 2 sold out dates at The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles: Tori Amos Tour Dates

About The Orpheum:

In addition to being among the first places the Thom Yorke band played (before they became “Atoms For Peace”), The Orpheum Theatre is one of L.A.’s most venerable landmarks. From a young Judy Garland’s 1933 vaudeville performance to a recent filming of the hit TV show “American Idol”, this renowned venue has hosted an array of theatrical productions, concerts,  film festivals, private parties, variety shows, awards shows, movie shoots, music video shoots, television show and commercial shoots and much more.

What Now?

Well, if you haven’t already done so, ENTER TO WIN TICKETS NOW.

For more info about this show or The Orpheum click here.

If you have questions or comments, please leave them for me below.

Thank you!

Colette

Radiohead: The King of Limbs

All day today I was under the impression that it was Saturday.  A text message from a friend confirming our dinner plans tonight was my first indication that today was indeed Sunday.  Another friend reminded me that next weekend is the Academy Awards.  The sum total of what this means to me is that February is over already.

I feel like I’m in some parallel universe, where the relationship with time is much more dynamic, much less linear.   As I play around in this sphere, the question that often arises is “what happened?”  Not because I’m concerned, but because I like it here.

In the midst of this, my phone rang.  “How are you?” the familiar voice on the other end asked.  “I’m listening to Radiohead,” I replied.

And that’s the answer.  That’s what happened.

Radiohead’s latest album The King of Limbs came out Friday, following an announcement just a few days prior that the album would be available for download on Saturday.   I’m on Radiohead time.

I’m not going to write about the album because I like people to have the space to form their own opinions about music and because I don’t want to limit it with something as concrete as words.  Listen to it a few times.  Get lost in it. Or run away from it.  Whatever it moves you to do – move and do it.

Which leads us to the video for “Lotus Flower” that was released Friday morning (US time), just prior to the album becoming available.  The video racked up a substantial number of “plays” and accolades early in the day.  My first thought was, “wow… look how Lotus Flower has evolved.”

I was thinking back to October 2, 2009, the first time Lotus Flower was played live for an audience.   Thom debuted the song during a “secret show” to unveil his new band, “??????“.  ?????? soon became known as “The Thom Yorke band,” and by “known” I mean: people didn’t have the attention span to say “question mark question mark question mark question mark question mark question mark” and needed something more tangible.  On March 1, 2010, Thom Yorke declared ?????? had been named “Atoms For Peace.”  As time is dynamic, so is Thom Yorke, Radiohead, and the music they compose.  Even the older albums feel to me like they evolve upon each new listen.

I managed to capture quite a lot of video during that first show, in October 2009, much to the dismay of some self-declared “traditional journalists” who felt they’d been scooped “by some bloggers.”  That’s the challenge isn’t it? They’re behind.  We’re living in different times now, to the rhythm of instant gratification.  The real, immediate, news is reported on Twitter, the “Nightly News” is simply a recap of the history of that day.

So here’s the “Nightly News” video recap of “Lotus Flower” – the first single off The King of Limbs:

“Lotus Flower” performed for the first time, at The Echoplex, October 2, 2009:

[Video playlist] ?????? Live at The Echoplex

Official “Lotus Flower” Video, released February 18, 2011:

Radiohead “Lotus Flower”/Beyonce “Single Ladies” Thom Yorke dance mash-up:

“Lotus Flower Rick Roll”:

(“Lotus Flower live at The Echoplex” video courtesy http://www.youtube.com/user/starfiterpilot)

Although I was there tonight, I respectfully decided not to cover the final Thom Yorke show in order to give the real journalists time to catch up with the news and post more than a “quick take review.”

Besides, you don’t need me to tell you what happened. . . Somebody has probably already posted the entire concert on YouTube.

It seems you need to give the New York Times your email address (if you’re not already a member) if you’d like access to their article now. However, if you read the NYT review, this post makes a lot more sense.

Thank you.

Rock Is A Girl’s Best Friend (where you can read reviews without giving away your personal info)

Anne Hathaway, Tobey Maguire, Woody Harrelson, Edward Norton, Colin Greenwood. . . where were they and 2,000 other fortunate souls? The answer, ironically, is: ??????

??????

The Thom Yorke Band, ??????, took the stage for night one of their two-night stint at The Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles.  The band came together approximately 3 weeks ago and is already blowing the minds of fans, friends, and yes, celebrities (seeing as these shows are the place to be) with their live performance.  Not many musicians can form a band and successfully hit the stage so quickly.  But we’re not talking about just any musicians – we’re talking about Thom Yorke, Nigel Godrich, Flea, Joey Waronker, and Mauro Refosco.

Tonight the Thom Yorke band played a set nearly identical to their rehearsal show at The Echoplex on Friday. They began by playing The Eraser, start to finish, in sequence.  The crowd sat down during the first 4 songs which felt strange, considering the talent that was on the stage and the music they were playing.  It must have felt strange to Yorke too because as soon as they finished “Black Swan” and before they kicked in to “Skip Divided” Yorke requested the audience stand up.

Skip Divided

“You know when I was getting ready to do these shows, I was saying to a friend of mine, ‘Y’know I really hope they dance to this music.’  This was all about making a dance record. So if you do want to sit there like it’s a cinema, that’s ok. . .  But if you do wanna get up, well. . .” Yorke announced as the crowd (finally) stood up and cheered.

I’m happy he said something.  Otherwise, I was going to be that a$$hole who stands and blocks everyone’s view because I don’t know how to sit still for “Skip Divided,” “Atoms For Peace,” “And It Rained All Night,” “Harrowdown Hill” and “Cymbal Rush” (certainly can’t sit  during “Cymbal Rush”).  It was hard enough to sit during the first 4 songs (albeit easier to see).

Indeed, the show at The Orpheum had a different feel than Friday night’s intimate gathering at The Echoplex.  For one thing, The Orpheum is a seated venue which divides the audience, interferes with one’s ability to dance, and requires an immense number of security staff to ensure people stay in their seat and don’t step outside the black tape and into the aisles.  In this economy, it’s good to see there are jobs for such a large security team.  At the same time, it definitely impacts the vibe of the show and restricts the crowd’s ability to express their excitement wholeheartedly.

Waronker

Regardless, the show was spectacular.  The percussion team of Waronker and Refosco put drum machines to shame as they somehow replicated and enhanced the beats heard on the recorded versions of the songs.  Yorke danced around on stage some, but seemed quite a bit more reserved than he did at The Echoplex, where he danced like this (and then some) during every song. Perhaps he restrained himself, realizing the crowd wouldn’t be able to join him as they previously could due to the restrictive nature of the venue layout (and security crew).

But I know Yorke wanted to dance more.  And he wanted us to dance more.  So if you’re lucky enough to be attending the show Monday night, at least pretend you know how lucky you are to be there. There may be a lot of guys and gals in bright yellow jackets. . . but there are more of us!

Videos from the show (watch in HD for a better viewing experience):

Here are some photos I captured: