Tag Archives: the dead weather

Jul 05

#LOTD2014: January Playlist

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#LOTD2014: January PlaylistNext up on the Lyric-of-the-Day project recaps from 2013-2014 is the January 2014 playlist. As a refresher, each day from Jan. 1, 2013 through Dec. 31, 2014, I posted a lyric on my Twitter feed. At the end of each month, I created a Spotify playlist of the songs featured, and throughout much of 2013-14 here on the blog.

Here’s January’s #LOTD2014 playlist (find the Spotify playlist I’ve created from these lyrics linked at the end of the post or on the clickable image at right), with some brief explanations (in italics) for a number of the lyrics.

  • “It’s time to spread our wings and fly/Don’t let another day go by my love” #JohnLennon “(Just Like) Starting Over” #LOTD2014 1/1
  • “But there’s something about us I’ve got to do/Some kind of secret I will share with you” #DaftPunk “Something About Us” #LOTD2014 1/2
  • “Got a 7-inch trigger finger/Don’t know how to stop it” #7Horse “Meth Lab Zoso Sticker” #LOTD2014 1/3 (Memorable tune from Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street,” which I saw on this Friday night.)
  • “Yeah, uh huh, you know what it is/Everything I do, I do it big” #WizKhalifa “Black And Yellow” #LOTD2014 1/4
  • “Cause we were raised/To see life as fun and take it if we can” #TheCranberries “Ode To My Family” #LOTD2014 1/5
  • “Roots that spread so deep/Bring life to frozen ground” #CrowdedHouse “Something So Strong” #LOTD2014 1/6
  • “We never once thought of the fears/For what we’d do when the battle cry was over” #Alarm “Sixty Eight Guns” #LOTD2014 1/7
  • “I’m not the only soul who’s accused of hit and run/Tire tracks all across your back” #JimiHendrix “Crosstown Traffic” #LOTD2014 1/8
  • “Forever never seems that long til you’re grown & notice the day-by-day rule can’t be too long” #Outkast “Ms. Jackson” #LOTD2014 #Coachella 1/9 (Coachella 2014 lineup announced, featuring the Outkast “reunion.”)
  • “These days, days, days run away like horses over the hill…” #U2 “Dirty Day” #LOTD2014 1/10 #Bukowski
  • “Before the teacher and the test/Before the journey and the rest” #BigCountry “Fields Of Fire” #LOTD2014 1/11
  • “And all this science I don’t understand/It’s just my job five days a week/A rocket man …” #EltonJohn “Rocket Man” #LOTD2014 1/12 (Visited the Space Shuttle at the California Science Center in Exposition Park with my Aunt Sue.)
  • “Tough guy, what you got to prove/Moving like an elephant, that’s your favorite move” #BeastieBoys “Tough Guy” #LOTD2014 1/13
  • “Winter’s winners and those summer sons/Aren’t good for everyone, aren’t good for everyone” #EchoAndTheBunnymen “The Game” #LOTD2014 1/14
  • “Yeah, we’re runnin’ a little bit hot tonight/I can barely see the road from the heat comin’ off it” #VanHalen “Panama” #LOTD2014 1/15
  • “This is what they call the life/I’m melting in the sun/Great expectations/Of all we seem to be” #INXS “Melting In The Sun” #LOTD2014 1/16
  • “Just 2 lost souls swimming in a fish bowl year after year/Running over the same old ground” #PinkFloyd “Wish You Were Here” #LOTD2013 1/17
  • “Greedy little people in a sea of distress/Keep your more to receive your less” #RedHotChiliPeppers “Give It Away” #LOTD2014 1/18
  • “Why you all in my ear?/Talkin’ a whole bunch of sh*t I ain’t tryin’ to hear” #Ludacris “Get Back” #LOTD2014 1/19 #Sherman to #Crabtree
  • “Sleep, sleep tonight/And may your dreams be realized” #U2  “MLK” #LOTD2014 1/20 #IHaveADream #MartinLutherKing
  • “Now I’m makin’ them wait/Except for you mama, I’m ready/I don’t wanna be late” #ChildishGambino “Make It Go Right” #LOTD2014 1/21
  • “I remember traffic jams/Motor boys and girls with tans/Nearly was and almost rans” #REM “I Remember California” #LOTD2014 1/22 (USC hoops upsets Cal for its first Pac-12 win of the season.)
  • “Nothing stayed the same/But there were always renegades” #AfrikaBambaataa #RageAgainstTheMachine “Renegades Of Funk” #LOTD2014 1/23
  • “Wrote a nasty letter & I sent it to the Lord/I said don’t you dare come & bother me no more” #TheDeadWeather “Rocking Horse” #LOTD2014 1/24
  • “If one guy’s colors and the other’s don’t mix/They’re gonna bash it up” #TheOffspring “Come Out And Play” #LOTD2014 1/25 #StadiumSeries #LA (L.A. Kings vs. Anaheim Ducks in front of more than 54,000 at Dodger Stadium in the NHL Stadium Series game.)
  • “Seasons change with the scenery/Weaving time in a tapestry” #SimonAndGarfunkel “Hazy Shade Of Winter” #LOTD2014 1/26
  • “I met you on the Palisades/The sun was spilling kerosene/And I was feeling wide awake” #MiikeSnow “Song For No One” #LOTD2014 1/27
  • “You could have a bumper car, bumping/This amusement never ends” #PeterGabriel “Sledgehammer” #LOTD2014 1/28
  • “Sometimes I say stupid things I think/Well, I mean/Sometimes I think the stupidest things” #FranzFerdinand “No You Girls” #LOTD2013 1/29
  • “Painted lies on broken lips/That promise heaven tastes like this” #PsychedelicFurs “All That Money Wants” #LOTD2014 1/30
  • “Flip on the tele/Wrestle with Jimmy/Something is bubbling/Behind my back” #Weezer “Say It Ain’t So” #LOTD2014 1/31 #PhoenixOpen #BirdsNest (After a full day on No. 16 at the Phoenix Open, a group of us stuck around to catch the Weezer concert at the famed “Birds’ Nest” location at TPC Scottsdale.)

Here’s the Spotify playlist if you’d like to listen along: #LOTD2014: January

Aug 12

Next Day Review: Jack White at the Shrine Auditorium, L.A.

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There’s nothing better than going into a concert with high expectations and having them met, let alone exceeded. Such was the case with Jack White’s epic performance last night at the Shrine Auditorium near USC.

Jack White and the Peacocks rock the Shrine Auditorium in L.A.

Backed by an impeccable group of six women, dubbed the Peacocks, White blew through a 20-song set that not only highlighted material from his first “solo” record, Blunderbuss (released earlier this year), but also an array of tunes from The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and his work with Danger Mouse. White’s band, featuring keyboards, slide guitar, fiddle, bass, drums and a backing vocalist, added texture to many of the White Stripes numbers in the set, while creating a power that belied their matching frilly light-blue dresswear. At the same time, seeing White truly enjoy performing and bringing a whirlwind of energy to the stage was especially rewarding.While there were many specific highlights, seeing White for just the second time (previously, I saw him kill with The Raconteurs at a KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas show, where most of the kids dying for Panic! At the Disco wouldn’t have understood great blues/country/rock if it hit them in the face) proved one thing to me: If you don’t like Jack White, you don’t understand the entire concept of rock music, where it comes from and what it can truly be.

Grab the setlist here: Jack White at the Shrine from Setlist.fm

And, for your aural pleasure, feel free to grab my Spotify playlist featuring the studio versions of each main track on the setlist: Jack White Shrine Setlist 8/11/12

Some brief highlights:

  • The transition from the first single on Blunderbuss, “Love Interruption” to a scathing version of The Raconteurs’ “Top Yourself.” Spectacular work by White and the band.
  • A wonderfully playful version of the Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba” and, just two songs later, a divinely sweet performance of “We’re Gonna Be Friends,” both made more lush – without being saccharine – by the Peacocks.
  • The five-song stretch that closed the main part of the set was about as rocking as you’re going to see. The Peacocks’ drummer, Carla Azar (who first gained recognition with L.A.-based Autolux early last decade) was a massive star on this night, constantly waging battle with White’s incredible guitar work.
  • Anyone who wants to be a bluesman, rock musician … hell, a musician, period … should be so lucky to see the version of “Ball And Biscuit” that closed the set. While always one of my favorite White songs, last night’s performance was above and beyond.
  • The trio of songs in the encore seemed to encompass all of White’s greatness in a 15-minute span.