Three Imaginary Girls - Black Rebel Motorcycle Club

Tonight: The Whigs and BRMC at the Showbox

ChrisB — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:45:07 +0000

I'm usually quite hesitant to recommend shows that have already sold out, but I'm quite excited for tonight's show at the Showbox with The Whigs and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. It is a really good pairing because both are garage rock bands that are smart enough to know better than trying to reinvent the wheel.

The Whigs hail from Athens, GA and are releasing their latest album, In the Dark, on a week from Tuesday. I've been enjoying the title track, especially, as of late because it descends into a glorious wall of noise and distortion in its final moments. Still, though, The Whigs are closer to The Rolling Stones or a great Southern rock band than they are to My Bloody Valentine. In the right context, their songs can be anthemic, but almost always catchy. The video above has the band treating Neil Young as their biggest muse to their song (coincidence?) "Already Young".

BRMC has been one of my favorite live rock bands to watch. Just how good the vocals from Peter Hayes and Robert Been are can be missed on first listen when they're drowned out in reverb but they really do have a great sense of harmony. Like The Whigs, they're a power trio with a new album forthcoming (Beat the Devil's Tattoo is out on Tuesday) and I'll expect they'll be playing a lot of songs from that album, but I can't wait to feel like all is right in the world when they play "Whatever Happened to my Rock and Roll?"

Fortunately, that rhetorical question will surely be answered later tonight.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club trades out drummer for a sometime Raveonette

Jeanine Anderson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 23:58:21 +0000

A lesson on how to break up with your drummer and introduce a new party to your threesome.

Baby 81

Erik Gonzalez — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 03:41:23 +0000

5.5

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000NVIXPA/wwwthreeimagi-20/

brmc07oct.jpg

When I was recently driving back from the coast, “Red Eyes & Tears” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club came up on my iPod and it got me thinking: What sort of career arc has BRMC had since the release of their acclaimed debut BRMC? It prompted me to fumble with my iPod while I sped down Route 12 east of the Bay and find Baby 81, their most recent album, to see if I could answer that query about where BRMC has come in the last six years and four albums. However, even though Baby 81 isn’t a bad album as such, you have to hear it as think that this might be a band stuck in neutral, coasting along on its Jesus & Mary Chain chops hoping that we’ll enjoy another fuzz rock revival for them to jump on.

The album opens on “Took Out a Loan,” which is about as a “by-the-numbers” song that BRMC could ever record. Guitars with a lot of reverb? Check. Thick, heavy drums? Check. Vocals that alternate between whine and growl? Check. If you like BRMC, there is nothing you haven’t heard before here. Honestly, for me at least, the best way to deal with Baby 81 is to try to talk about the songs that vary from that tried-and-true formula for the band and sadly, that list is a little scant. “Weapon of Choice” has a little more life to it, almost coming across as BRMC trying its hand at being the Arctic Monkeys, but it still has too much gloom to it. “All You Do is Talk” is just plain strange, with a string section, drifting vocals and, well, very few guitars. It's almost as if BRMC stumbled into a Rufus Wainwright recording session before the rhythm section finds its way back to the studio (nothing like a band grasping for a power ballad). “Am I Only” has that same “we need a ballad” desperation sense to it. However, you have to give them props for a song like “Window,” a piano-driven and oddly Beatles-esque song which borrows some of the BRMC guitar reverb, yet has a little more personality of its own. Among the formulaic BRMC songs, “666 Conducer” is the most fun with a bit of a White Stripes meets the Jesus & Mary Chain feel to the affair. “Killing the Light” has the band venturing into falsettos and a more restrained beat, but it ends up morphing back into the BRMC we all know.

Baby 81 pretty much gives the average BRMC fan exactly what they would want and expect... and that’s it. Really, it feels like there’s very little meat on the bones of the album, with the band revisiting its old haunts with reckless abandon. Maybe recording four albums in six years and touring relentlessly has taken its toll on the band. They might just need to take a little break and dream it up all over again, otherwise wait it out for the opening slot of the revitalized Jesus & Mary Chain tour.

Baby 81 pretty much gives the average BRMC fan exactly what they would want and expect... and that’s it.

My favorite three Bumbershoot photos, by photographer Michael Alan Goldberg

imaginary dana — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:53:36 +0000

Here are photographer Michael Alan Goldberg's favorite three, in his own words...

Bumbershoot 2007: I saw Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Twice! (* but they were fully clothed)

ChrisB — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 18:21:18 +0000

2 Sep 2007

BRMC_03.jpg

The choice to book Black Rebel Motorcycle Club to play Bumbershoot this year was inspired, putting them on the main stage, even better. Putting the rockingest main stage band on at the most un-rock and roll time of 1:15 pm: a little curious to say the least.

Memorial Stadium can swallow lesser bands alive. If you’re used to playing two thousand person capacity clubs, it can be pretty damn intimidating playing a football arena that can hold 60,000, especially if it’s only a quarter full at best. BRMC seemed out of place in the afternoon heat with each of the three band members dressed completely in black. The strobe lights on the stage were barely visible and seemed odd in the sunshine (but would have added to the experience after dark), yet that doesn’t mean they were not up to the challenge.

Playing for around an hour, the band played songs from each of its four albums (B.R.M.C.; Take Them On, On Your Own, Howl, and this year’s Baby 81). A few songs were acoustic but for the most part the set was made up of the catchy, loud rock drowning in distortion. The rock songs were a better fit for the venue they were playing in and hearing them played live was still quite memorable. Highlights included “Berlin,” “Weapon of Choice,” and my favorite BRMC song, “Whatever Happened to my Rock and Roll? (Punk Song)”.

The main stage afternoon set was pretty damn good, all things considered (and they still sounded better live than they do canned through the headphones on my iPod) but a second set of the afternoon, at KEXP’s Music Lounge, was nothing short of spectacular. BRMC played a six-song, stripped down acoustic set to a crowd of somewhere around 100 very lucky people. Four of those songs came from the band’s third, and mostly acoustic, record Howl (“Fault Line,” “Shuffle Your Feet,” “Love Burns” and “Ain’t No Easy Way” – and a fifth song, “Mercy” was recorded at the same time but appeared on an EP released around the same time). The final song was “Weapon of Choice” (from Baby 81), which was a rock song played acoustically.

With all of the reverb stripped away, the guitars unplugged and the drums and bass removed, you could (finally) hear just how amazing the voices of Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been truly are. Their vocals were strong and clear but also revealed a vulnerability that doesn’t always come through on record.

This was a rare and phenomenal show – it was even pointed out that it was the first show where drummer Nick Jago played guitar. It was easily the best one I saw this weekend – and, after attending 9 of the past 11 Bumbershoots, I think I can say it is my favorite memory of the festival yet.

{Note: KEXP BRMC photo by Eduardo Brambila}

Bumbershoot Day 2, three photo recap!

imaginary dana — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 17:36:23 +0000

Yes, dear readers, I've been lapped! But ready to read more about these bands...

I'm at the BRMC show right now...

imaginary dana — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:43:03 +0000

They're playing live on KEXP, so tune in RIGHT NOW if you're near a radio (or a computer).

From the trenches at Bumbershoot, Day 2

imaginary dana — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 22:16:22 +0000

So far, so good! I started my day off with Natalie Portman's Shaved Head (SO LOVEY I WANT TO BITE THEIR HEADS!!) and Mono in VCF, while ChrisB caught the Trucks and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

As Seen On TV: BRMC, PB & J, and a bunch of political guys!

imaginary liz — Tue, 29 May 2007 23:32:00 +0000

It's rerun week for late night hosts this week, so we get to relive some of our favorites of the past few months. The landscape is littered with political (albeit interesting) candidates this week, but don't fear 'cause next week we're getting a couple of really exciting musical guests.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Black Angels

JimiC — Mon, 21 May 2007 05:16:28 +0000

13 May 2007

blackrebelmotorcycleclub07may.jpg

Long review. Longer show.

Sunday night is a rough night for a rock and roll show, as the weekend has generally taken its toll by then, but the Showbox filled up early for Austin’s The Black Angels, who stepped in to replace the Horrors and the Fratellis on this part of the BRMC tour. As interested as I was in seeing the two bands-o-dropouts, I think the Black Angels were a much better match in vibe for the headliners.

I’ve been sporadically listening to the Black Angels debut LP, Passover, for a little while and like it quite a bit, but this was my first live experience with them. From their first notes, the mood was set: deliciously dark and lasciviously lysergic. They make the kind of music the term psychedelic (and you know I love that term) was born to describe. On record singer Alex Maas recalled for me the Gun Club’s tragic and gifted frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce, but live he managed to convey a presence more akin to Jim Morrison, simultaneously introverted and yet out in front selling the songs with great verve… and speaking of “verve,” he had a vocal timbre in similar to I-still-refuse-to-use-the-legally-mandated-“The” Verve’s Richard Ashcroft.

By the second song into the set, “The Prodigal Son,” their second guitarist switched to a floor tom (a move repeated oft through the evening) enhancing the Doors/tribal comparison. The pounding drums became hypnotic, mantra-like, but led to no release. In fact, it often felt like all songs were played at one tempo, which was simultaneously enrapturing, but also a bit frustrating. The throb of the rhythm section along with the dense guitar/keyboard mix gave the band a very charged sexuality playing live that I never picked up on while listening to the album, but which, when combined with the monotonous tempos, left me just shy of an, ahem, expected climax (which usually never happens to me, I swear...). Still, the long build was ultimately quite satisfying, as throughout the opening set the room was filled with a wash of sound, fluid leadlines erupting into wah-wah’d sheets of noise, reminiscent of Spacemen 3 and Loop as much as, and often more than, the original 60’s psychedelics to which they are often compared (and even more to my liking as it were). The Black Angels added punch live drove me back to the record with greater appreciation for the songs and served as a great table-setter for Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

In the name of full disclosure, I’m a huge BRMC fan. Sunday was the sixth time I’ve seen them live, and it was one of the best performances I’ve ever seen them give.

First, a little background... I’ve always been a “first album” kind of guy, not just for BRMC, but for most bands. I generally find that a band’s first album, over the long haul, turns out to be my favorite. And really, why shouldn’t it be a band’s best work? They’ve had their whole lives to write a dozen songs, then for each subsequent album they get a year or two to come up with 12 more. The odds favor stronger material appearing on the first one. There are, of course, plenty of exceptions to this, but generally that’s the way it follows.

BRMC came out strong on their self-titled first, which is certainly one of my top five favorite albums so far this century. They managed to combine shoegaze, post-punk, and garage rock (arguably my three favorite genres) into a potent stew of Rock And Freakin’ Roll. They then lapsed into the Sophomore Slump by most accounts with Take Them On, On Your Own. I find this to be an underrated work, but it does in many ways feel like a slightly lesser version of the first album. This was followed by the Difficult Third Album, Howl, which came on the heels of falling out of favor with their label and internal problems which resulted in the removal (though he was eventually reinstated) of drummer Nick Jago and left many fans to restate the question BRMC so prominently and fervently asked aloud on their first album… “Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll?” On Howl they abandoned their louder stylings for a more blues and Americana based acoustic sound. The songs were still good, and generally well received critically, but left some fans feeling a bit confused and disappointed, myself included.

History lesson over, we arrive at the present release, Baby 81, which feels like a real culmination of all that has come before. It’s a great step forward; the rock of the first two albums returning, but with the added depth and dimension of quieter, more moody works in line with Howl. It has a couple of jump-out-at-you tracks, but becomes more and more rewarding in its entirety on repeat listenings. Baby 81 introduces some brand new tricks to the mix as well, and I was looking forward to seeing how it would all come together in a live setting. The answer, in a word, wonderfully.

Baby 81 opener “Took Out a Loan” opens the set with much more energy and life than the song manages to find in its recorded form. The second song of the show, and the second on the new album, “Berlin” follows, leading me to worry (however briefly) that we might get a straight reading of the album. In the case of “Berlin” that would be more than welcome. It’s one of the aformentioned jump-out-at-you tracks on the album (it just has to be the next single) with it’s catchy “suicide’s easy/what happened to the revolution” chorus, and it has even more punch onstage. Then shifting gears into the past, first album classic “Spread Your Love” bounces forth, having lost none of the power it wielded the first time I heard it, with it’s pronounced glam stomp. It’s quite probably my favorite BRMC track.

Watching closely, one starts to get a feel for the dynamic between the co-fronts Peter Hayes and Robert Levon Been fairly quickly at a BRMC show, with Peter all menacing cool; his dead-eyed stare gives the appearance that he’d be just as happy eating your first-born male child as playing a rock and roll show (strange, since he seems so pleasant and personable in offstage conversation… gee, I hope I didn’t just ruin some of his dark mystique). Robert, on the other hand, is all edgy energy, unable to stay very long in one spot, an absolute joy to watch, while behind the kit Nick remarkably holds it all together. Whatever differences off stage they have/do suffer through, onstage they are stop-on-a-dime tight.

Rolling on, “Lien on Your Dreams” follows, with the only representative from Take Them On, the “Whatever Happened to My Rock and Roll” of that album “Six Barrel Shotgun,” after it. The first single from Baby 81, “Weapon of Choice,” roars out and proves itself a worthy choice to re-announce the bands presence to the world as it crackles with even more energy than expected, and brings the understated politicality of the band a little closer to the front with it’s call that “I won’t waste my love on a nation.” Back to the first album with, back-to-back, “Whatever Happened…” and the intensely moody “Red Eyes and Tears.” Their maturity and expanded repertoire starts to show as Robert slides over to play piano on the very Supertramp-only-more-rocking sounding “Window” (if only it was Fender Rhodes). Continuing on those lines Robert stays put and Peter picks up a trombone(!?!) for “Promise” from Howl. “Not What You Wanted” has a very uplifting feeling and makes me think of John Hughes movie soundtracks for some strange reason. The way those three songs in particular seamlessly mix into their more “typical” songs stand as a clear example of how BRMC has managed to show artistic growth, diversifying their sound, without sacrificing any of their own strengths or changing their voice.

It’s back to basics then, though, as “666 Conducer” comes off like a “Red Eyes…” redux live (though, strangely, not so much on the record), and is followed by the self-titled LP’s lead track “Love Burns,” which still, as with “Spread Your Love,” holds a lot of power even after the intervening years. The set closes with Peter trading his guitar for Robert’s bass and Robert taking over lead duties on “Need Some Air” and “American X.”

I’ve always been impressed with the way that even as Peter and Robert switch off guitar and bass duty, the songs stay very cohesive, their playing styles on each instrument distinct but very in tune with one another. Generally I notice when bands pull the old switcheroo, different personalities palpably manifest themselves in the instrumental performance, but I never find that the case with BRMC. That being said, “Need Some Air” almost sounds like BRMC playing mid-era Ministry with it’s live aggression, and pounds at the audience like few before it in the BRMC catalog, the guitars, which are somewhat restrained on Baby 81, tearing into the crowd with real ferocity. As set closers go, “American X” seems born for the task, epic in scale with a siren-like lead line calling the audience to arms for the big finale. Though the actual finale was yet to come.

Fifteen songs is a damn long set, but, as is the proper rock and roll tradition, it’s not really a show without an encore. After a brief exit (at least they didn’t keep us waiting… I hate it when bands do that), Peter rejoins the fray armed with his acoustic and a harmonica for a couple from Howl, “Faultline” and album standout “Devil’s Waitin’,” both songs holding the rapturous attention of the still-very-full room (which in and of itself was amazing to me... I’ve been watching fools walkout on encores in this town for years). Robert steps back into the spotlight for what he says is a non-LP track called “Mercy,” wondering aloud why it never made the record (it was on the Howl Sessions EP though if you want to hunt it down… I’m not sure if that was an official release or not). It’s not a bad tune, but I’ll tell you why, Robert, it didn’t make the cut: it runs on and on and doesn’t seem to have any particular destination, which I was beginning to fear was where this show was heading; in spite of how much I was enjoying the performance, it was becoming a marathon. Some well-earned rewards were right around the corner, though, after the Dylan-esque “Complicated Situation” from Howl (noticing a trend here?). “Ain’t No Easy Way,” the single and most accessible (not too mention my favorite) song from Howl follows, enhanced by Robert strolling behind the kick drum as he plays guitar for some added percussion (by now Nick has clearly gone missing, commented on by Peter, and apparently/allegedly due to some sort of reaction to something he ate). That treat is followed by another, a Bob Dylan cover, “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.” I love hearing other artists do Dylan songs, because I believe, virtually without question, he was the greatest American (or possibly greatest period) songwriter of the last 50 years, but I CANNOT deal with his vocals. And as covers go, this one hits the tone spot on, a real highlight of the set. Twenty-two songs in and the set finally closes with Howl’s lead track “Shuffle Your Feet,” which is all I can do as I leave exhausted, but ultimately more than satisfied. Everyone gets their money’s worth out of this one.

“Who Knows If I’ll See You Again?” Bet on it, guys… I’ll be back next time your in town. It’s great to see artists you admire step up their game. And now I can’t wait for the next album, either.

1 “Took Out a Loan”

2 “Berlin”

3 “Spread Your Love”

4 “Lien on Your Dreams”

5 “Six Barrel Shotgun”

6 “Weapon of Choice”

7 “Whatever Happened to my Rock and Roll”

8 “Red Eyes and Tears”

9 “Window”?

10 “Promise”

11 “Not What You Wanted”

12 “666 Conducer”

13 “Love Burns”

14 “Need Some Air”

15 “American X”?

16 “Faultline”

17 “Devils Waitin”

18 “Mercy.”

19 “Complicated Situation”

20 “Ain’t No Easy Way” Robert behind the kick

21 “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll”

22 “Shuffle Your Feet”

Twenty-two songs in and the set finally closes with Howl’s lead track “Shuffle Your Feet,” which is all I can do as I leave exhausted, but ultimately more than satisfied. Everyone gets their money’s worth out of this one.

The Ephemeral Nature of Success

Erik Gonzalez — Thu, 10 May 2007 18:07:38 +0000

But why did they send me a preview CD that will not play on anything CD playing object I own, not my iBook, not my car, not my DVD player? Come on, if you want a review, make the damn thing playable

As Seen On TV: Amy Sedaris, Modest Mouse, BRMC, Arctic Monkeys and more!

imaginary liz — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:51:19 +0000

For as many listings we've got this week, there's nothing I'm super excited about. Amy Sedaris is always a hoot (she and Letterman have quite the banter). Kaiser Chiefs are all over the place, and Alice Cooper chatting up Carson Daly (or vice versa) could be interesting.

Best of 2003: Top 100 Imaginary Albums of the Year

three imaginary girls — Sat, 03 Jan 2004 08:00:00 +0000

You voted, and we tabulated. Now you can print and clip the top 100 imaginary albums of the year list for your post-holiday-gift-certificate shopping pleasure...

The Postal Service, "Give Up"
The Shins, "Chutes Too Narrow"
Death Cab for Cutie, "Transatlanticism"
Radiohead, "Hail To The Thief"
Outkast, "Speakerboxxx/The Love Below"
The White Stripes, "Elephant"
The Long Winters, "When I Pretend To Fall"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs, "Fever to Tell"
The New Pornographers, "Electric Version"
The Decemberists, "Her Majesty, the Decemberists"
The Strokes, "Room On Fire"
The Wrens, "The Meadowlands"
The Divorce, "There Will Be Blood Tonight"
Ted Leo and The Pharmacists, "Hearts of Oak"
Nada Surf, "Let Go"
Visqueen, "King Me"
Idlewild, "The Remote Part"
Junior Senior, "D-D-Don't Don't Stop the Beat"
Cat Power, "You Are Free
Belle & Sebastian, "Dear Catastrophe Waitress"
The Rapture, "Echoes"
The Darkness, "Permission to Land"
The Thermals, "More Parts Per Million"
The Dandy Warhols, "Welcome To The Monkey House"
The Lights, "Beautiful Bird"
Stellastarr*, "Stellastarr*"
Various Artists, "Lost in Translation" Soundtrack
Massive Attack, "100th Window"
The Mars Volta, "De-Loused in the Comatorium"
Wonderful, "God Bless Our Pad"
British Sea Power, "Decline of British Sea Power"
The Delgados, "Hate"
Jayhawks, "Rainy Day Music"
Los Halos, "Leaving Va."
Mogwai, "Happy Songs for Happy People"
My Morning Jacket, "It Still Moves"
The Aislers Set, "How I Learned to Write Backwards"
The Thrills, "So Much for the City"
Kaito, "Band-Red"
Basement Jaxx, "Kish Kash"
Gillian Welch, "Soul Journey"
Grandaddy, "Sumday"
The Decemberists, "Castaways and Cutouts"
Twilight Singers, "Blackberry Belle"
Sun Kil Moon, "Ghosts of the Great Highway"
American Analog Set, "Promise of Love"
Damien Jurado, "Where Shall You Take Me?"
The Hidden Cameras,"The Smell Of Their Own"
Cursive, "The Ugly Organ"
Clearlake, "Cedars"
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Take Them On, On Your Own"
Mojave 3, "Spoon & Rafter"
Rufus Wainwright, "Want One"
Calexico, "Feast of Wire"
Crooked Fingers, "Red Devil Dawn"
Sleepy Jackson, "Lovers"
Fountains Of Wayne, "Welcome Interstate Managers"
Manitoba, "Up in Flames"
Pretty Girls Make Graves, "New Romance"
Andrew Bird, "Weather Systems"
Johnny Cash, "Unearthed"
The Libertines, "Up the Bracket"
The Paybacks, "Knock Loud"
Broadcast "Haha Sound"
Deerhoof, "Apple 'O"
Menomena, "I Am the Fun Blame Monster!"
Fanny Pack,"So Stylistic"
Jet, "Get Born"
Kinky, "Atlas"
The Notwist, "Neon Golden"
Broken Social Scene, "You Forgot It In People"
Ed Harcourt, "From Every Sphere"
Exploding Hearts, "Guitar Romantic"
The Kills, "Keep On Your Mean Side"
Blur, "Think Tank"
Four Tet, "Rounds"
Kings of Leon, "Youth & Young Manhood"
The Drive-By Truckers, "Decoration Day"
The Minus 5, "Down With Wilco"
The Orb, "Bicycles and Tricycles"
Downpilot, "Leaving Not Arriving"
Longwave, "The Strangest Things"
Okkervil River, "Down the River of Golden Dreams"
The Malinks, "Can't Shake Last Night"
The Stills, "Logic Will Break Your Heart"
United State of Electronica, "Demo"
Guided By Voices, "Earthquake Glue"
Anna Oxygen, "All Your Faded Things"
Beth Gibbons & Rustin' Man "Out of Season"
Dead Meadow, "Shivering King and Others"
Martina Topley-Bird, Quixotic"
Rachel's, "Systems/Layers"
The Fitness,"Call Me for Together"
The Primate Five, "1234567APE"
Triple R, "Friends"
Holopaw, "Holopaw"
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, "Nocturama"
Smog, "Supper"
The Bad Plus, "These are the Vistas"
The Gossip,"Movement"

A list of the top 100 records of 2003 as voted on by you, our fabulous imaginary readers.

T in the Park 2002

imaginary liz — Thu, 01 Aug 2002 07:00:00 +0000

16 Jul 2002

tinthepark2002.jpg

When April (our San Francisco Imaginary Girl correspondent) and I bought our T in the Park tickets back in February, we had no idea who was going to be on the bill. It was like crap shoot — except what did we really have to lose? Even if the line-up was full of crappy bands, we would at least be in Scotland listening to crappy bands — which is still 400 times better than any week on a beach in Hawaii.

As time passed, more and more bands were added to the bill and our excitement level steadily grew. By the time we left the states for the show (which is just about the time we got our butts in gear to organize the minor details like, um, lodging), the bill was full of 10-hour flight-worthy bands. Here is a wee recap of the bands we saw over the course of the two-day festival:

The Top 3 Overall Performances:

Idlewild: Why will this Idlewild performance go down in my personal history book? Again, I will speak in triplicate: 1) They began their performance with the Scottish National Anthem. 2) The setlist (their new album rocks! their old stuff rocks! they rock!). 3) The crowd (its been a while since getting bruises all over my arms from complete strangers has been so fun).

The Hives: Three Imaginary Girl fans might question my objectivity in placing The Hives on this list after reading my review of their Seattle performance. But April, who had yet to see them live or spend time with any of their albums, substantiated this accolade. Once again, they proved themselves to be the rock icons they bluntly state they are and whipped the crowd of slightly less than 50,000 into a frenzy, in 5 minutes time. Is it the ties, the on-stage banter, the magnetic lead singer, the sultry guitarist, the... well, you know what I am getting at...

Green Day: Never would I have thought that April and I would have spent 5 minutes at the T in the Park Green Day performance, let alone add them to this list. Sure they played their perfect-pop-punk with proficiency and power (and other things alliterative). But, more notable was that they solidified our suspicions that they are actually nice guys in addition to being catchy-song-writing-masters. So get this: they picked three random superfans from the audience of thousands and taught them the guitar, bass and drum parts so that they played (very well might I add — someone find that drummer kid an agent!) while Billie Joe sang along. Then Billie Joe made everyone's heart leap with pure joy when he gave the ill-equipped nervous teen-age girl who played the guitar part that very guitar to keep, right then and there! Sure I've seen a couple other bands do this — the bring up an audience member to play along thing — but never the way the Green Day boys patiently and tenderly taught their pupils their part and never offering a guitar keepsake. For that they will forever remain in my good graces.

The 3 Performances that Inspired Me to Join The Fanclub:

Mull Historical Society: This guy's (the songs and band are basically the vision and labor of one guy: Colin MacIntyre) energy, performance and comfortably-filling song repertoire made me get over the fact that I was shit on twice by the only bird in the sky (literally, there were no birds in the sky) during the show. April put it best: "This guy is like Justin Timberlake if Justin Timberlake was talented." He also earned big bonus points for wearing a Heavy Soul t-shirt.

Kain: There we were, minding our own business, wandering through what most would consider "the tent least-likely to be rocked out in" — the T-Break Stage. Low and behold we find Kain, a Scottish band who played a solid 30 minutes of gut-bursting, retro-styled, ice-melting rock that married the Beach Boys and the Ramones with fluffy Strokes icing (boy do I feel self-conscious describing someone as being Stroke-influenced). One note to the band: Skip that song with the trumpet.

Groove Armada: If it were not for April's urging, I would never have made my way over to the Slam Tent to catch Groove Armada. Thank goodness my instincts were wrong on this one. Our time in this tent gave us priceless moments of raver-girl glory. The pinnacle of the GA set came with their universal dance anthem, "Superstylin," when the tent just exploded in Scottish grooving rapture, exclaiming "IBEETHA!!! IBEETHA !!! (gaelic for "Ibiza," another story)...

The 3 No-Brainer Music Staples — I had to see them:

Primal Scream: Bobby Gillespie. No way could I have missed a moment of this. Stellar as expected.

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: It was a bit odd to see them in the middle of the day with it being light out and all. I didn't get too freaked out because I wasn't able to get totally immersed in the show. It was hot in the tent; there were so many people there that we were miles away from their dry-ice and minimally lit stage and the sound sucked. But I was glad we stopped by.

Badly Drawn Boy: It was great to see him in all his glory without the "I am an extremely British guy playing in America" thing looming overhead. The About A Boy tracks sounded great live.

The 3 Bands I Wish I Saw More Of:

Ian Brown: This was on the must-see list as rumor had it that he would play one of my Stone Roses favorites (aren't they all?): "Fool's Gold." April and I made it to the door and were able to stand in the jam packed tent for approximately 5 minutes before our self-preservation instinct kicked in and we had to evacuate. I still don't know if he played "Fool's Gold."

Soundtrack Of Our Lives: We saw the last three or four songs of the set — and by the end were able to finally latch on to the grandiose hippy feel to it.

Dandy Warhols: Seeing the "best Britpop band from Portland" perform never disappoints. Good thing we are able to comfort ourselves with the realistic hope of seeing them the next time they play in the hood. Thank goodness at least we caught "Minnesoter."

The 3 Bands I Am Thankful that I Didn't See More Of:

Oasis: Even though they are probably the world's best Beatles cover band, the fact remains that they are annoyingly arrogant, unimaginative and obnoxious. I challenged myself to sit through three songs and made it through one and a half. It was that darned self-preservation instinct again.

Biffy Clyro: Thank goodness someone finally made a mix tape comprised only of Bush and Tool songs. Oh wait, that's Biffy Clyro.

The Music: I bought one of their EPs on a whim after reading a kind review on some "e-tail" website. After 7 listens it still wasn't worth 3 minutes of my time. I really hoped that seeing them live would spark some level of enjoyment in their music. Alas, none. Just goes to show that you just can't trust music reviews you read on the web.

igLiz attends the Scottish indie-music festival T in the Park and offers her wee recap of the two-day festival.