Wednesday, December 18, 1996

Mazzy Star/Sparklehorse - Belly Up Tavern

During the show, Hope Sandoval had repeatedly asked a girl standing directly in front of her to stop singing because it was interfering with Hope's ability to hear her own voice. Frustration and anger ensued, Hope refused to come back out on stage, and thus Mazzy Star did not do their scheduled encore (yes, I saw the printed set list).

Monday, December 16, 1996

91X Acaustic Xmas - Golden Hall

I saw:
Lemonheads
Eels
Republica
Bloodhound Gang

Wednesday, December 11, 1996

Monday, December 9, 1996

Sunday, December 8, 1996

Wednesday, December 4, 1996

Friday, November 22, 1996

Wednesday, October 23, 1996

Poe - Canes

Friday, October 18, 1996

Tool - SOMA

Friday, October 4, 1996

Wednesday, October 2, 1996

Rage Against the Machine/Girls Against Boys - Hollywood Palladium

From the balcony, you could see that the main floor was one gigantic mosh pit.

Friday, September 20, 1996

Sunday, September 15, 1996

Wednesday, September 4, 1996

Friday, August 2, 1996

Sarah McLachlan/Suzanne Vega/Paula Cole - Starlight Amphitheatre

This tour was the precursor of Lilith Fair.

Thursday, July 25, 1996

Wednesday, July 17, 1996

Saturday, July 13, 1996

Tuesday, June 25, 1996

Saturday, June 22, 1996

Organic 96 - Snow Valley

I saw:
Orb
Chemical Brothers
Orbital
Underworld
Meat Beat Manifesto
LoopGuru

Organic 96 went off in a big way at the Snow Valley Resort in the San Bernardino National Forest on Saturday, June 22. You could tell that most people were there to see the big name bands, and the anticipation was high as the crowd gathered on the dusty clearing in front of the main stage. At 7pm, as people were still filing in, LoopGuru started things off with a bang with an intriguing jungle vibe.

Meat Beat Manifesto followed with a trippy 1 hour set. Although mostly drawing from newer material from their latest double album, "Subliminal Sandwich," they also gave us a few industrial flavored gems from the past such as "Genocide" and "Helter Skelter."

Next up was Underworld. They opened their intense 1.5 hour set with "Rez" followed by "Cowgirl." WOW! For me, Underworld were the best act at Organic as they managed to keep up an amazingly energetic vibe for the full duration of their set. I cannot say enough good things about them; they are one of the best bands I have ever seen. I wanted them to go on forever. While some may have disliked their rock star posturing, for me it only added to the excitement and energy of their music. They truly seemed totally pumped up to be playing their amazing music for us.

The Chemical Brothers played the next 1.5 hour set. If you've listened to the album "Exit Planet Dust," you'll get some idea of what their live show was like. Mostly songs based around complex patterns of beats, intricately woven and designed to keep your feet moving. "Leave Home" was played near the start of the set, but I was somewhat disappointed that they didn't do "Life is Sweet."

Orbital came on for their 1.5 hour set and proceeded to charm the crowd with their own brand of glorious music. Their set consisted mostly of complex techno orchestrations as found on their latest record "In Sides." Their newest creations are full of interesting textures and reminded me of the grandest classical pieces. Crowd pleasers included older dance floor classics such as "Satan," "Lush," "Impact" and "Halcyon" (in addition to the Opus 3 samples on which this last song is based, they also mixed in some of Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven is a Place on Earth"!). Definitely see Orbital when they hit Vancouver later this month.

Finally, the Orb came on at around 3:30am. Anyone familiar with their live recordings will know that Dr. Alex loves to stretch and mutate their compositions into long, flowing odysseys of sound. Simply wonderful and a great way to come down from the amazing high of the previous bands. Especially humorous was when they played a couple minutes from the KLF's "Chill Out." What a great way to end an absolutely incredible night.

By the way, did I mention that Underworld were absolutely amazing?

Saturday, June 1, 1996

Ani DiFranco - SOMA

Friday, May 10, 1996

Wednesday, May 1, 1996

Tuesday, April 23, 1996

Amps/Imperial Teen - Casbah

I remember that some of the Amps' equipment cases were stenciled as belonging to the Breeders. I don't know why Kim Deal even bothered to record as the Amps...

Friday, April 19, 1996

Future World - San Diego Convention Center

I saw:
Love and Rockets
Secret Knowledge
and others??

Wednesday, April 17, 1996

Friday, April 12, 1996

Thursday, April 11, 1996

Black Grape/Star 69 - Roxy

Shaun Ryder was completely drunk and had to read many of the lyrics off a cheat sheet.

Thursday, April 4, 1996

Eve's Plum - Troubadour

Doug's sister was visiting, and was blown away by this little excursion up to L.A.

Friday, March 29, 1996

Tuesday, March 26, 1996

Ruby - Casbah

Friday, March 1, 1996

Saturday, February 3, 1996

Wednesday, January 31, 1996

Smashing Pumpkins - SOMA

2nd of 2 San Diego club shows in preparation for the Mellon Collie tour.

Tuesday, January 30, 1996

Smashing Pumpkins - SOMA

1st of 2 San Diego club shows in preparation for the Mellon Collie tour.