uzi

May 30, 2007 - The Moanin Dove is one of my favorite local bands. There. I've said it. There's a reason for it... I dig their dark jazzy psychedelic rock... like if you take The Mahavishnu Orchestra and Wolfmother, mash 'em up and have Jack Bruce do the singing. At any rate, they told me they wanted to play in San Jose, so I found them a show on a last-second whim. Unfortunately, half the people I would have told to show up were playing a few blocks away at the Voodoo Lounge...

May 29, 2007 - David Ahlen opened the show solo... very mellow stuff and very beautiful. The guy has a terrific voice. Next up was Great Northern from LA who has what Live105 music director Aaron Axelsen calls his favorite album so far in 2007. I snagged a copy and have to say that it is pretty good... there are at least 3 songs that I really like and I'm letting the rest sink in. Finally, Loney, Dear from Sweden making their first SF appearance. Another really fun and good band...

Ok, so given Ry Ry's comment on a recent blog of mine, I decided to conduct a bit of an experiment. First off, Ry Ry... is an album like what I did for Live105's NSSN more or less what you had in mind? At any rate, I figured it was worth doing an experiment with Flickr... I went and set up an uzishots account at http://flickr.com/photos/uzishots/ I've set up the sets such that they say "Band - Date @ Venue": http://flickr.com/photos/uzishots/sets/ I've made...

May 25, 2007 - Opening for Louie XIV (who I was asked not to take photos of, so I didn't), a pair of BFD bands Audrye Sessions and Every Move A Picture played The Independent, which is a terrific place for both music and photos. Really good show, and I spent a good time backstage, hangin' with the bands as well as folks from some other damned good local bands (PTT, Poor Bailey, The Actual, etc.) Photos at http://uzishots.com/photo/shows/2007/20070525-independent/ and a few of the...

May 24, 2007 - A Talking House show featuring 3 bands that I know and like playing at a good venue like Slim's and a fourth to check out? Count me in! Panda kicked things off nicely despite some technical difficulties... one highlight of their set was drummer Louie having a moment to solo and doing the opening beat to "A Song for the Dead" by qotsa (who I can't wait to see at BFD). Then the Bruises, followed by Poor Bailey, who I've been listening to the album of and...

May 17, 2007 - Two Seconds is a fun band that I like to catch when I can... Lily and Sierra are cool and always great to hang with. Along for the ride were The Chop and Enter Shikari. The latter was from London and with a small but rapidly local following that went as far as making a human pyramid on the lead singer's request. Photos at http://uzishots.com/photo/shows/2007/20070517-bottomofthehill/

Like for their Not So Silent Night competition, Live105 are giving bands a chance to get heard and for one of those bands to kick off the local stage at BFD. A whopping 207 bands submitted entries and Miles the Intern whittled that list down to 20 (poor bastard... some of it was seriously bad). Now those 20 bands are subject to voting, and that's where you come in. Head over to http://live105.imeem.com/ and start listening and rating the songs. The top five bands will play an all...

Smashing Pumpkins will be playing eight shows at The Fillmore towards late July. Talk about setting up camp. I'm a little torn to see 'em without James Iha and D'Arcy, but kudos to them for playing an intimate venue, playing enough times for many folks to have a chance to see 'em and keeping the ticket prices out of the stratosphere. News can be found many places on the interweb... here's one of...

May 12, 2006 - Three bands that know how to rock out... that's what this show was about. Great music and great performances. First up was Triclops! who seriously kicks ass... to quote the door man "they're a breath of fresh air". Their singer is all over the place like a ball of energy and everyone is seriously good (especially their drummer). Them Mammatus from the Santa Cruz area who rocks it like a grunge-influenced band, and with a dude that just danced with a big...

May 11, 2007 - A show sponsored by Performer Magazine. The Mumlers have been on my list to check out for a long time... like a year... pretty much ever since their bassist came to one of my band's shows... so I was glad to finally catch them. The Botticellis put on a great show. The Morning Benders I've seen several times and always enjoy... cool guys, too. Monsters Are Waiting finished things off, and I have to say that I dug 'em. If we're lucky, Gretta will stop by to...

May 10, 2007 - Great Northern, a band from the same LA area as Silversun Pickups came to play at Popscene last night. You know it's a good sign when Aaron Axelsen tells the crowd that it's his "favorite new band of 2007". Photos at http://uzishots.com/photo/shows/2007/20070510-popscene/ and a few of the photos:

May 9, 2007 - This promised to be a show with plenty of rock, soul and blues and it delivered just that. The Vaticans opened things up. Then it was The Struts, and I must say that their little Farrah has a big voice... a pleasure to hear (that, and I'm a sucker for blues rock). Finally, Harold Ray showed more soul than I'm sure most white guys are capable of. So yeah, I had fun. :) http://uzishots.com/photo/shows/2007/20070509-bottomofthehill/ And some photos:

May 7, 2007... a very good day for Robbie, who was sportin' as bit a smile as I've ever seen. Why? Because a hero of hers, Matt Skiba from Alkaline Trio played at Bottom of the Hill. Emily Tessmer kicked things off, then Skiba, and then Chuck Ragan. Very cool acousticy show. The night was capped with Ragan and Skiba doing a number of songs together. Photos at http://uzishots.com/photo/shows/2007/20070507-bottomofthehill/ And some selections:

Here it is... my first time shooting at the famed Fillmore... something I've wanted to do ever since I started shooting bands. Usually at such a venue, there are photo passes, a photo pit, 3 songs and you're done, etc. Not so for this show... I was amongst the crowd which limited my mobility... on the flip side, it meant I could shoot the whole thing. After the lovely Jessie Baylin kicked things off, ALO (Animal Liberation Orchestra) took the stage and celebrated the release of...

I missed their last show at Bottom of the Hill because of the Owl Mag party on the same night (with Minipop, Maldroid, Poor Bailey, LoveLikeFire and Finding Mercury), but I wasn't going to miss The Moanin Dove if I could help it. They played an in store show at Rasputin Music in Campbell last night to a sell out crowd (I kid, I kid... it was free). I can't stress it enough when I say that I think these guys kick ass... I see their stuff as a jazzy psychedelic rock. They have...

This was a Jet Blue celebration of direct flights between SFO and New York and organized via Going.com. Unfortunately, I BARTed in and things started *much* later than I had expected, so I only was able to stay about half-way through the Teddybears set (not to mention the show being lit from behind instead of in front, etc.)... just not ideal conditions (unlike the Owl Mag show a few weeks earlier). Nonetheless, I got in a few decent shots... All Teeth and Knuckles kicked things off, and I...

The BFD presale was this morning. I mostly got offered tickets in the 200 sections and the lawn, but I struck gold once and snagged them: Section 103, Row DD. The seating chart is below... anyone else have any luck?

When the Maldroid guys said they were doin' a little somethin' in Berkeley, I knew I had to be there. What better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than with the band, some fuzzies (or fuzzers, whatever) and other friends? And of course, chillin' for a meal and some beer afterwards further solidified a kick-ass experience, so thanks! Here's the link: http://uzishots.com/photo/promo/20070429-maldroid/ And some selected photos:

Another Fuzz-filled evening (meaning the Fuzz gang showed up) at Bottom of the Hill for a cool show. Fabulous Disaster kicked things off with an energetic punk show... and the very expressive Squeaky was especially fun to snap photos of. Then it was booty-shaking time with Sugar and Gold. Finally, it was my first time seeing Von Iva, and I really enjoyed it. Jillian has got amazing stage presence. Also in the crowd were some familiar faces from bands like Luxxury, Persephone's Bees...