FALL CONCERT UPDATE

"Some people travel, some people are pretty,
we have a scraggly dog."

It's been a while since my fall concert preview, so here's a by-no-means-comprehensive (or binding!) list of other shows I might see this season. Please let me know what I'm missing.

Also, download Spoon's set from this summer's 80/35 Music Festival here (via Joe Lawler).

October

Hank Williams III. People's Court (with tbd). Oct. 26. All Ages $20/$22

Joan of Arc. Vaudeville Mews (with Love Songs for Lonely Monsters and Noremac McCarthy). Oct. 28. 21+ $10

Willie Nelson. 7 Flags Event Center. Oct. 28. All Ages $40-$50

Bear in Heaven. Grinnell College (with Lower Dens and Sun Airway). Oct. 30. All Ages & Free

The Misfits Karaoke Halloween Ball. Live-band Misfits karaoke at Vaudeville Mews. Oct. 30. $21 & Free

The Books. Grinnell College (with the Blackheart Procession). Oct. 31. All Ages & Free


November

Electric Six. Vaudeville Mews (with the Constellations and the Jitz; Kinky Kyro will spin records). Nov. 2. 21+ $15

Oh No Oh My. Vaudeville Mews (with the Pomegranates, Parlours). Nov. 3 All ages $7

Candy Claws. Vaudeville Mews (with the Chain Gang of 1974, the Autumn Project, Love Songs for Lonely Monsters). Nov. 6. 21+ $7

The Coathangers. The Underground (with Coyote Slingshot, Deep Sleep Waltzing). Nov. 6. 21+ $5

David Vandervelde. Vaudeville Mews (with Brass Bed, the New Bodies, the Seed of Something). Nov. 9. All Ages $7

Gold Motel. Vaudeville Mews (with Mother Culture, Pink Kodiak). Nov. 20. All Ages $7

Rhonda Is a Dead Bitch. Record release party at Vaudeville Mews (with Golden Veins, Distant Trains). Nov. 20. 21+ $5

J-FLo. Vaudeville Mews. Nov. 26. All Ages $8

PrettyGirlHateMachine. Vaudeville Mews (with Touchnice of Maxilla Blue, Neon Current with Richie Daggers, MC Genetics, the Renegades of Sound). Nov. 27. 21+ $5

George Jones. 7 Flags Event Center. Nov. 28. All Ages $50


December

Free Energy. Vaudeville Mews. Dec. 8. 21+ $10

THAT'S TWO-THOUSAND-AND-NINE

Operator, get me the president of the world!

When Tokyo Police Club first started getting what kids used to call "blog love," longevity was a non-issue. They were "Tokyo Police Club," after all. And the concise, energetic Canadian band's first few releases were EPs and singles-- short-lived, but satisfying, pleasures. Then another much-blogged band known for their EPs, Austin's Voxtrot, put out a full-length and the thing flopped. In 2008, Tokyo Police Club issued debut album Elephant Shell, making the jump to Omaha's Saddle Creek label (Bright Eyes, Cursive, Rilo Kiley), and what do you know? It turned out to be pretty good. I saw them open for Art Brut at the Warsaw in Brooklyn. They were awesome. I saw them play in front of like 2,000 people at Denmark's Roskilde Festival. Also awesome.

Response to this year's follow-up, Champ, has been more mixed. A lot of the discussion has focused on the songs being longer, the band stretching out a little bit, but I think it's telling that most reviewers seem to have trouble finding something distinctive about the music to use as a hook. Here's Spencer Kornhaber, writing in SPIN: "How can a band with so many ideas make so many songs that leave you feeling the exact same way?" Champ still sounds like Tokyo Police Club, so it's never bad, at all, but as far as I've been able to tell there's not much reason to listen to it rather than the first album or early EPs.

FALL CONCERT PREVIEW

The Eagles are set to play Wells Fargo Arena.

So last weekend after we got home from Kansas City, there on the doormat was our Sunday issue of The New York Times, which I tried canceling a little while ago because we read it mostly online anyway and I was thinking about cutting costs, but you have to call (you can't do it on the website) and the telephone operator was really persuasive, so-- well, now you know how you can get a discount on your Times subscription.

Anyway, the Arts & Leisure section this week was like a million pages, and I noticed there was a New York fall music preview. Which reminded me, along with college football starting again and Mrs. Des Noise going back to school, that it was almost fall. And that, hey-- I usually try to write seasonal music previews! Now, I realize I already missed Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. and local indie celebs the Envy Corps at Vaudeville Mews earlier this week, and the farewell roast to bartending legend Dirty Dan at the Mews on Sunday before he moves to Hawaii. Also: Hot Hot Heat got canceled, huh?

But there's a whole bunch of interesting stuff coming up the next few months. Probable highlights include, in approximate order of likeliness you might've heard of 'em: Band of Horses, Passion Pit, Tokyo Police Club, Best Coast with Male Bonding, The Books, Electric Six, Atmosphere, Candy Claws, Bear in Heaven, Scout Niblett, David Dondero, Retribution Gospel Choir, Tim Kasher (Cursive), Deakin (Animal Collective), Maps & Atlases, Strange Boys and, for the name alone, maybe +Blissed Out+.

As always, please don't hesitate to let me know what I'm forgetting. Thank you for reading!

IT'S NEVER BEEN LIKE THAT

Somewhere up there is a band called Phoenix.

If you've ever heard a song by Phoenix in a TV commercial or on your iPod boombox, you don't need to shell out the money to see them live. It's basically the same thing. Except without the entertainment value of watching Cadillacs cruise around winding highways (professional drivers on a closed course-- do not attempt!) or being able to skim your RSS reader while you listen without looking like a jackass. 

That's based on the French pop group's show here last night. Phoenix's rise to TV soundtrack and commercial-break ubiquity has been another tale of triumph for internet indie-music geeks, and getting a band with their level of cachet to Des Moines was a pretty huge deal, one more sign of a small Midwestern city's ongoing revitalization. The 1990s alternative rockers you might hear alongside these guys on Ames-based 105.1 FM (The New Rock Revolution) definitely weren't coming to town in their own day, you know? When organizers switched the venue from 7 Flags Event Center in Clive to the smaller People's Court downtown, I was ready for another sad, Devo-esque lack of ticket sales. Turns out I shouldn't have worried: The band was the only real disappointment.

SO WHEN'S IT COMING? THIS LIFE'S NEW GREAT MOVEMENT THAT I CAN JOIN?

Faces are changing on Ludlow Street.

Downtown New York came to Downtown Des Moines over the weekend. The two hit it off pretty well! Turnout wasn't overwhelming, but a surprising number of people who saw Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas at People's Court on Friday night appeared to be clapping and dancing with a decidedly un-Lower-East-Side enthusiasm. My group wasn't quite as demonstrative-- you have to plan out the best times to go over to the bar area, which is separate from the main floor, and where you have to stay while you have a beer, because local all-ages show rules are complicated-- but the overall consensus seemed to be: GOOD SHOW. Casablancas did "11th Dimension" of course and other songs from his solo debut album, last year's new wavey Phrazes of the Young, plus his bizarro hit cover of Saturday Night Live sketch song "I Wish It Was Christmas Today," and a couple of Strokes songs, too (including a moving, unadorned version of "I'll Try Anything Once," the song that became "You Only Live Once" from third album First Impressions of Earth). With a six-member backing band, and some of the newer tracks stretching to a very un-Strokes five minutes, the show was a bit proggier than I expected; Casablancas was about as cool as I'd hoped (I've never seen the Strokes before), not saying too much but expressing what seemed to be pretty genuine pleasure over his reception in a town he'd never played previously (during "I'll Try Anything Once," he complimented people for clapping along and then cracked a self-deprecating joke when everybody stopped with one verse left to go... "Now you're just showing off," he said as the interaction resumed one song later). He also sells really nice T-shirts. I wish it was Christmas today-- unfortunately, the Strokes (reunion, of sorts?) tour isn't until this summer.

Hey, you!

Ladd of the Vaudeville Mews booked a show at Beechwood Lounge over in Des Moines' East Village on Saturday night: Iowa's own Land of Blood and Sunshine and the Jitz, plus lo-fi party-rockers the Beets out of Queens, New York. The Beets' first full-length, Spit on the Face of People Who Don't Want to Be Cool, is out on Brooklyn's highly worth-watching Captured Tracks label. Beechwood Lounge doesn't have shows often, I don't think, and it's a funny place anyway-- think of the High Life Lounge, except a little bit farther east, with Budweiser instead of Miller-- and the basement has a rough, communal vibe to it, load-bearing view-obstructing columns adding to the, I guess we call it, charm. It's a good spot to see a show. I think we decided one of the Beets looked like Jonathan Richman and another like John Lennon (they sang in harmony a lot) and I forget what we came up w/ for the rest of them-- they have a stand-up drummer and a guy who sits in a corner and plays the flute or recorder or something, I couldn't quite make it out. The sound was a sort of scuffed, sloppy, deadpan take on 1960s garage-rock. At least as much Pabst Blue Ribbon as Anheuser-Busch product was sold.

Upcoming shows after the jump....

THE FALLING LEAVES. THE FOAMING ALES. THE BELATED DES NOISE FALL CONCERT PREVIEW.

I barely managed to post my summer concert preview before it officially became summer and my list would've no longer been even technically on time. I've been hoping I could be at least that punctual with my fall concert preview, especially after seeing the Cityview and the Des Moines Register's Datebook fall entertainment guides pile up on my coffee table. This is my best effort.

Britney Spears on Sept. 11, I'm sorry I missed you.

(Hat tip to Tom Ewing for the title of this post. Thanks to Patrick and Ashley Tape Fleming for making the adjacent photo with the IOWA shaved-head fan guy happen... it was our dirty iPhone, not any shakiness by Ashley, that caused the blur. Mrs. Des Noise is cropped out, to protect the innocent. And the jobs thereof.)

SEPTEMBER

Friday, Sept. 18: Grace Basement @ Vaudeville Mews
Catchy, jangly St. Louis guitar-pop with reverence for '60s psych: "Today I made some hummus for you" (listen)

Saturday, Sept. 19: Silversun Pickups and Manchester Orchestra @ Hoyt Sherman
Two popular indie rock bands I've never seen live. L.A.'s Silversun Pickups go for taut rythms, Placebo-pinched vox, and post-"Popular" Nada Surf mellow anthemics, while Atlanta's Manchester Orchestra do the "grandiose 1990s alternative (slight keyboard)" thing. If I can convince Mrs. Des Noise, I'll go.

Sunday, Sept. 20: Laura Barrett @ Vaudeville Mews
My favorite moment for the kalimba, or thumb piano, so far is former Vaud-playing Swede Jens Lekman's cover of late Iowa native Arthur Russell's "A Little Lost". Expect Toronto's Barrett to play the instrument-- and maybe keyboard, kazoo, bass pedals, and "other percussion"-- when she brings her low-key, minimalist folk-pop to Des Moines. (listen)

Monday, Sept. 21: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band @ Wells Fargo Arena
The Boss returns to Des Moines for the first time since 2006, this time with his longtime accomplices. OK, I really like Nebraska, "The River", "It's Hard to Be a Saint in the City", and probably plenty of other songs I'm blanking on right now-- I'm not a total Philistine!-- but I've always found "Born to Run" ridiculous, winced after Springsteen got a career boost out of 9/11 with The Rising, and I don't have $90 to shell out on tickets, so since I'm sitting this one out anyway I'm gonna have to side with Richard Meltzer, who compared Bruce's blend of 1950s nostalgia (Roy Orbison!) and 1960s nostalgia (Bob Dylan!) to another 1970s phenomenon: the Fonz. This view is probably the real reason I could no longer live in the mid-Atlantic states.

Monday, Sept. 21: Trivium @ People's
Three years ago, friend of Des Noise Tom Breihan called Trivium "the Jackson 5 of Underground Metal." I'm not one of those indie rock guys who nurtures a pet metal obsession; the only aggressive bones I have in my body are passive. But still.

Monday, Sept. 21: The Chambermaids @ Vaudeville Mews
Pedal-pushing Minneapolis power trio (their MySpace bio invokes shoegazers My Bloody Valentine, art-punks Wire, the Auckland Sound of New Zealand's Flying Nun, and the heady foreboding of 4AD) gets Down in the Berries. (listen)

Wednesday, Sept. 23: (early show) Good Old War @ Vaudeville Mews
My God, Fleet Foxes already have their own Thorns. At least that's what I thought when I first heard this band, a splinter project of Philadelphia indie-rockers Days Away, but it was only a live acoustic track. The full-band material is more textured and forceful; my RSS reader suggests these guys, like Jersey's Gaslight Anthem, are affiliated with the punk world despite their easygoing folk-rock sound. (listen)

(late show) Yourself and the Air @ Vaudeville Mews
"I don't know why but I feel so strange," these shimmery Chicago indie-rockers murmur plaintively on "So You've Come to Mingle", a buzzing, chiming, handclapping, whoa-oh-ohing stop-starter from their record Friend of All Breeds. "I don't know why but I feel like a mess... with you." I've only heard a couple of tracks, as with most of the up-and-coming groups playing at the Mews this month, but I could totally see myself bouncing around and making a mess of myself to this energetic, emotive stuff. (listen)

Thursday, Sept. 24: The Love Language @ Vaudeville Mews
Red-lining North Carolina indie band rocks nostalgic for Western swing, Buddy Holly, and a girl named Mary Lou who stole their heart. Says Ladd: "I really, really love this band!" Consider me there. (listen) Also: Saddle Creek-signed Toronto indie-folkers the Rural Albert Advantage (listen)

Friday, Sept. 25: Dave Matthews Band @ Principal Park
I understand Dave Matthews fandom. I heard about the band from an older cousin in 8th grade. When I moved to Nashville a year later and everyone was freaking out about some Hootie and the Blowfish band, DMB was common ground. They were even my first concert, in Phoenix in 10th grade. I still have some of the bootlegs. And I find this video hilarious. Everybody who goes will have a good time! I get it, and I think there's something good to be said for it, but I don't think anybody wants to read my take on it.

Friday, Sept. 25: The Shirelles, the Crystals, the Chantels @ Prairie Meadows Racetrack and Casino
What are the chances these are the people who actually sang on the records?

Saturday, Sept. 26: Dogtown Fest
The Register's Sophia Ahmad has the lineup (I've only see Beati Paoli; curious about the others):

• Main stage at 23rd and University Street — 4:20 p.m. – Finn Miles, 5:30 p.m. – Menlo, 6:30 p.m. – Beati Paoli, 8 p.m. – Maxilla Blue, 9:30 p.m. – Cashes Rivers
• Acoustic stage at Mars Cafe, 2318 University Ave. — 6:15 p.m. – James Biehn, 7:30 p.m. – Seedlings, 9 p.m. – Curry & Red

Saturday, Sept. 26: The Airborne Toxic Event @ People's
Earlier this year, I wrote: "When I read the Don Delillo book from which this band got their name, I thought it was overrated, the sort of thing a celebrity might say is great just to feel smart-- the postmodern Old Man and the Sea. OK, I was still just a freshman in college. There's a very good chance I was wrong."

Monday, Sept. 28: Mark Mallman @ Vaudeville Mews
Minneapolis piano-rocker with grandiose guitar touches befitting Wells Fargo Arena performers Trans-Siberian Orchestra toes up to the Weird Al irony line. (listen) (Star Tribune profile)

Tuesday, Sept. 29: The Rosewood Thieves @ Vaudeville Mews
Rootsy recent Hold Steady openers have the double-track vocals, syllable-stretching tunes, and melancholy guitar arrangements to earn comparisons to Elliott Smith or Earlimart, if not quite John Lennon. The folk and country tinges also align the New York band with the likes of Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, or Whiskeytown. (listen) with Portland's slightly folksier rock howlers the Dead Trees (listen)

Wednesday, Sept. 30: Wovenhand @ Vaudeville Mews
Former frontman for Denver alt-country band 16 Horsepower gets heavy and Nick Cave ominous in support of last year's Ten Stones. (listen)

Thursday, Oct. 1: Wilco at University of Iowa Memorial Union, Iowa City
Wilco (The Des Noise fall concert preview item).

Thursday, Oct. 8: Owl City @ House of Bricks
Mrs. Des Noise has already instantly denounced this EXTREMELY Postal Service-like band's "Fireflies" as more or less a crime against humanity. So I may be in the minority here. But I like the Postal Service! I like the idea of a band revisiting the Postal Service/Discovery sissy electro-pop sound and translating it for a mainstream radio audience! I like "Fireflies"! And I hope to like Owl City live.

Friday, Oct. 9: Miley Cyrus @ Wells Fargo Arena
Miley's "Party in the U.S.A.", like Kylie's much better "Can't Get You Outta My Head" before it, sounds like a pop hit with both mass audiences and critics in mind. I don't know that I'd believe the KISS FM DJ I heard saying he saw a trucker blasting the Hannah Montana star's current hit with the windows down, but I do know that it's a fascinating song to talk about. Meta to the max, it's already been called "the first Michael Jackson tribute record," and it prompted Mrs. Des Noise to ask whether she's getting paid for all those endorsements: KISS FM, Britney, Jay-Z. The only people the Top 40 really matters to, though, in terms of IRL social impact, are teenagers and preteens, and I sort of hate how endorsing this song would suggest you're endorsing the conformity that makes Miley's tummy feel better. Hey young girls: Don't like KISS FM or Britney, let alone that sweet feminist Jay? You don't get invited to the party! I won't be showing up, either, but I am morbidly curious.

Friday, Oct. 9: Lamb of God, Gwar @ Val Air Ballroom
Yeah, so I probably won't go to this. I know that some of my friends probably would. Metal! And joke-metal! And unfair jokes about metal that write themselves, thereby perpetuating metal's embrace by indie kids who maybe used to joke about metal!

Friday, Oct. 9: Yo La Tengo @ the Slowdown, Omaha
I will, in fact, be heading to Nebraska to see Hoboken's post-Sinatra finest this night. New album Popular Songs is their second straight triumph after 2003's uncharacteristically middling Summer Sun. I wrote something about their song "Our Way to Fall" for one of Pitchfork's best-of-the-decade lists: here.

Saturday, Oct. 10: AC/DC @ Wells Fargo Arena
Totally worth $90, says aforementioned friend of Des Noise Tom Breihan, who wrote up the classic kilt-rockers' 2008 Madison Square Garden gig for the Village Voice. Almost certainly true, but anybody wanna get me on the guest list?

Wednesday, Oct. 14: Dethklok, Mastodon, High on Fire, Converge @ Val Air Ballroom
Finally! A metal show I really want to see!

Wednesday, Oct. 28: The Veronicas @ the M Shop, Ames
I'd still be curious to see this Avril-like band some time.

Thursday, Oct. 29: Matisyahu @ People's
Everyone's favorite Hasidic reggae-rapper from this year's 80/35 festival makes his autumnal return.

Sunday, Nov. 1: New Found Glory @ People's
Whoa, these pop-punks are still around? That one guy looks kinda like Morrissey with a skunk hair-stripe.

Sunday, Nov. 22: Minus the Bear @ People's
Mathy Seattle indie rockers.

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH... SAM SUMMERS

Sam Summers, of concert promoter First Fleet Concerts, shares some thoughts about what he sees going on musically here in Des Moines. (Neither of us are really fans of the word "scene.") Where he used to compare turnout against Boise or Madison, now the benchmark targets are Minneapolis or Kansas City. He digs not only Ames/DSM overseas sensations the Envy Corps, but also Wolves in the Attic, who I saw play a little while ago. And I curse myself for missing Gogol Bordello... even to see an I-Cubs game. (I'm hoping to check out Silversun Pickups on Sept. 19, also maybe Atmosphere next Tuesday.)

Sorry I've been quieter lately, keeping busy with writing and getting settled and stuff, I guess. Sounds like there are some great things going on over at Des Moines Social Club these days, from a short film screening of local screenwriter Ben Godar's short film Fatherland last night to a Readymade issue release/launch party (the do-it-yourself magazine recently relocated to Des Moines from Berkeley) on Wednesday night. I may hear a Grain Belt calling. Oh, and the 515 Alive Urban Music & Arts Festival hits the East Village this weekend-- I want to check this out, too. [Previous Five Questions: Derek Lambert, Amedeo Rossi, Patrick Tape Fleming, Ladd Askland]

1. I've never been to People's Court... what should I expect?

SS: People’s Court is really Des Moines’ first “venue”. On the small club level you can afford to have “indie”, “metal” and “rock” bars but when you start getting to the mid-sized to large-sized venues your programming really has to feed all the people. People’s is conducive to all genres. No one is going to feel out of place when going to People’s.

2. More generally, what's the Des Moines music scene like?

SS: The music scene here is greater than ever before. I look at it in terms of numbers. When I started doing shows I would base the success of any given show based on how the show did compared to places like Boise, ID or Madison, WI. Now my bar has been raised to.. “how did this show do in Des Moines vs. how it did in Minneapolis or Kansas City”. The great attendances have really made me take chances on things like Gogol Bordello or MGMT or The Kooks. Things I never would have thought about booking when I started. As a whole the good attendances are still heavily influenced by what is played on the radio. Des Moines should look to online music outlets as an alternative so I can start [to] bring more bands I like ;)

3. What shows are you most looking forward to this summer?

SS: shit… my favorite show of the summer was Gogol Bordello. You really get your money’s worth on Gogol shows. No bathroom or bar breaks. You have to make sure you catch their whole set. Pretty pumped for Silversun Pickups this fall.

4. Any local bands we should be watching?

SS: I would have to say The Envy Corps. Their hugely energetic set at 80/35 just reminded me why I back this band so much. Wolves in the Attic are great too. I was able to get them on my Faint show last year and I feel like they went over really well. Outside of Des Moines... will whitmore and old panther are a couple of my favs.

5. What would you change or improve about what's going on musically in Des Moines?

SS: I feel like with a lot of bands locally they are trying to create music that they think they are supposed to be making. There are very few bands that I feel have a natural sound. Poison Control Center is really one of the only bands that I get a “real” vibe from. Their energy and passion is so natural. I would love to see more bands writing music that is less predictable and more from the heart.
EDIT: P.S. Don't let me forget, free Why Make Clocks CD release party at Vaudeville Mews on Aug. 14. Sorry to the nice guy who e-mailed me from locals Hanwell for sleeping on their show at House of Bricks the other day-- next time, I hope. Oh, and I also happened to correspond with (I think-- Googled the name) a member of Iowa band the Postulates (a clever Newton pun?).

YOU CAN KEEP TOMORROW AFTER TONIGHT WE'RE NOT GONNA NEED IT

"Do You Realize?" is to Oklahoma City acid casualties as "All My Friends" is to Downtown disco-punks

Column today in the Des Moines Register about Iowa transplants. "I learned a long time ago that newcomers must endure a waiting period before voicing strong opinions," Marc Hansen writes. "As in, 'How about living here awhile before telling us what we should do or think?'" And then he REALLY hits home: "Sophisticates from the bigger cities arrive with moving vans full of misconceptions and uninformed opinions." It's a nice column that actually turns out to be about a guy who wants Iowans to listen more to their non-native neighbors. Hansen also wrote a column recently called "Thugs from Chicago in Iowa? Fact or fiction?", which I was ready to read skeptically. It's a smart, appropriately and refreshingly modest, inquisitive piece on race relations and the relationships between the historically high-crime Chicago and sleepy ol'-- except for that guy who got beaten and stabbed almost to death around my block, or the guy who stabbed his mother, or the July 4 brawl that claimed two Des Moines women's lives, or the tragic shooting of a high school football coach-- Des Moines.

I can't help sometimes expressing strong opinions, but as a New Yorker for five years and a Chicagoan for almost five before that, I've been surprised how busy Des Moines has kept me since I landed in town just about three weeks ago. Part of the whole appeal for me of moving here from Brooklyn was the idea that suddenly I'd have more free time to sit around and read and listen to records, because hey, that's what I really like to do. Instead I've constantly been doing stuff, whether trying new restaurants and bars or going to the 80/35 music festival or checking out some really good live acts at Vaudeville Mews and Des Moines Social Club. And I still haven't been to all the other places around town where I'll end up seeing bands! Also, yeah, sometimes I'm working a little bit. So, in the interest of brevity and saving time for non-blogging activities, I'm summing up an insane amount of activity in a single post.

The Pitchfork Music Festival was a blast for me last weekend, probably more fun for me musically than last year's and with more good friends to catch up with too. And a new baby to hang out with, although she also got to hang out with Wu-Tang Clan's GZA. Didn't have electricity or hot water, but that wasn't my always insanely gracious host's fault. How do you get tobacco juice stains on a ceiling? Yo La Tengo and Built to Spill sounded great the first night, the former playing what sounded like a pretty varied set (including stuff from the most recent album, which I feel like I loved more than everybody else) and Built to Spill getting a little Dead-ier than I had even expected, never seen either band before (!!!). Lindstrom did his classic "I Feel Space" and just generally killed, space-disco-wise (somebody mentioned "Miami Vice" music man Jann Hammer), and Ponytail were a high-energy baby-talking highlight with a great drummer (Mrs. Des Noise: "Is it the same nonsense every time? She's OK, right?") (yes), and Wavves was better than expected, still a strange and bound-to-backfire vibe of entitlement around many of these new lo-fi ppl though. On Sunday, DJ /rupture (did I capitalize that right?) stopped sounding like a curator to me (Brian Howe's phrase?) and started a globetrotting dance party, Japandroids' set was this year's Art Brut look-at-us-we're-a-great-new-band-and-this-is-our-moment moment at least from right to the stage left of the mosh pit behind a guy handing out gum and a girl who was darn generous with her water bottle full of vodka, and Flaming Lips did the confetti and the balloons and the wacky video display and the great great psych-pop swooners (not exactly following the "Write the Night" fan-voting rules, but all the better for it)-- set was too short, if anything, a deal with the city I guess but all for the best. Had always found Frightened Rabbit a little Counting Crow-ish, but his voice isn't his fault and their set-- no banjos, unlike on the album!-- was much better than I expected. M83, Black Lips, etc. also sounded good from afar.

AHHH!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!! Des Moines is nice because I can be a fanboy here and not feel self-conscious about it, which is harder to do sometimes than you'd think. Japandroids came to the Vaudeville Mews for the first time last night. I'd been looking forward to it for months, and it definitely helped get me excited about making the move-- hey, if they can book one of my favorite new bands of the year before there's even a record out in the U.S. yet, this place is gonna be awesome, right?-- almost as soon as the virtual ink was dry on my "Young Hearts Spark Fire" track review. Opening locals Wolves in the Attic sound like early Sonic Youth, as observed to me by the guy who recorded them, the Poison Control Center's Patrick Tape Fleming. Except unlike many bands that would meet that description, they were remarkably tight and practiced, too, especially catching my attention with a blistering instrumental and a real energetic thrasher right before the end. About to listen to their album, which comes packaged in a book (I got The Expectant Father). Met Ryan from another local band, too, Beati Paoli, whose historical references and literary air put me in mind of pre-Hazards of Love Decemberists, only more electrified and voluble (I heard that Stone Roses quote, man!). Japandroids did their thing and it did well, despite a relatively small Monday-night-on-a-band's-first-time-through-town crowd and the fact that they were planning on driving toward Denver that night after the show: two dudes, a wind machine, anthemically synchronized guitar-drum pyrotechnics, sweating hearts and sparking fires and boys leaving town and staying crazy forever together and some new stuff I didn't recognize, too. There's a more 1990s Lollapalooza-style grind to them that's not in a lot of stuff I like, something that makes them more guy-oriented (could be the name), but I actually pretty much enjoy near-head-banging when it's to music like this. Their first driving album of the night was going to be Master of Puppets. EDIT: They did their cover of McLusky's hilarious and awesome "To Hell With Good Intentions," too, pretty faithful except with more "whoa-ohs," amazing hair.

Oh, and I told them "great set at Pitchfork" when they first walked into the building... they thanked me and apologetically said they had expected Des Moines to be a "shithole"-- "no offense" (none taken, esp. because they explained it could just be because it's a place you've never been before, so far from home in Vancouver). Drummer Dave Prowse (!) seemed to be digging Wolves in the Attic. So anyway, all this leads to them dedicating "Young Hearts Spark Fire" to the guy who saw 'em the night before in Chicago, i.e. me. Without knowing I was a Pitchfork writer-- who had reviewed that very track! Weird coincidence, and very fun. I bought a white vinyl album and a T-shirt.

Maybe Paleo (sort of Neutral Milk Hotel meets an M. Ward or Iron & Wine, on first cursory MySpace listens) tonight? We'll see when I can get my actual work done. Also want to see the Iowa Cubs this week sometime, and have great Chicago/Brooklyn friends coming to visit. Also, also: Gomez tonight at People's, Gogol Bordello tomorrow night, Derek Lambert working sound. So like I said, there's more going on than you might know about. I haven't been here long enough to say if it will last me through the winter, but it should be fun either way.

DES MOINES SUMMER CONCERT PREVIEW: IS THERE EVEN A 2009 SUMMER JAM I CAN QUOTE HERE YET?

OK, so I realize it has already felt like summer in Des Moines for a little while now, but there are still a few days until the official first day of the season, so technically this post isn't ridiculously overdue. Technically.

Mrs. Des Noise and I arrive in town June 29. I imagine we will have a lot of unpacking to do. I don't know when the first show is that we'll be able to check out, and I'm sure there are local artists (including recs from the Poison Control Center's Patrick Fleming and Vaudeville Mews booker Ladd Askland) who I will end up seeing but haven't had time to visit on MySpace yet. But in the meantime, here's an extreeeeemely provisional round-up of shows that I'll be trying to check out around town this summer.

One example of what I'm hoping to do here: Jonathan Richman played in town the other night. Not everybody would love him, but anybody could-- he's a warm, giving, funny entertainer, not some kind of "difficult" listen, and he has a big catalogue of great songs. If you didn't already know that, though, there doesn't seem to be a publication yet in town to tell you. The Register's writeup just says, "Modern Lovers frontman, perhaps best known for his role in 'There's Something About Mary'"-- not exactly a ringing endorsement, especially if you've never heard of the Modern Lovers (in which case, please check out their first album right now-- it's one of my favorites of all time). I'm basically hoping to help identify deserving performers like that and let people know about fun shows to see that might have otherwise slipped under their radar.

Such as, ahem: Josh Ritter on July 8, and Japandroids on July 20.

So, without further ado... and all that good stuff...

JULY

Thursday, July 2-- Toots and the Maytals @ People's Court
I've never seen Toots and the Maytals. They're legendary in ska/reggae circles, with a couple of tracks on the influential soundtrack to 1972 Jimmy Cliff film The Harder They Come. Barring family responsibilities or other move-in related happenings, I'm so there. No idea how good they'll still be, but it's gotta be interesting. Check out: "Pressure Drop"

Friday, July 3-Saturday, July 4-- 80/35 Festival
You probably know all about 80/35, so I'll just list a few of my favorites. You may not even need me to type these next paragraphs:
July 3, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Main Stage
7:30 PM – Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks -- The former lead singer for Pavement is one of my music heroes. I will not miss this. For an example of Malkmus's wry, slightly offbeat wisdom, here he is performing Pavement's "We Dance" at the 2007 Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago.

9:30 PM – Public Enemy -- With a screeching, urban sound and politics just as hard to ignore, Public Enemy's impact on hip-hop upon arrival in the 1980s can hardly be overstated. I caught them at Pitchfork last year, but I didn't have a really good view. Let's see if clock-wearing emcee Flavor Flav mentions his VH1 reality show again-- he received boos for it when I saw them. Here's "Rebel Without a Pause" from the 2008 p4k festival.

July 4, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Main Stage
3:15 PM – Man Man -- I'm told I will probably start the day in Urbandale for a parade and beer, so I have no idea if I'll be at the festival by 3:15 p.m. But if I am, I will definitely see these crazy gypsy carnie boho-hobos. Here's something I wrote about them once; here they are acting weird with their song "Hurly Burly" in the background (sorry, not trying to shill for p4k-- these are just the links I know!)

7:00 PM – Broken Social Scene -- Confession: I don't love these dudes the way some of my friends do. But I do love Feist, who was associated with this free-flowing Canadian collective. And Broken Social Scene-ster Dave Newfeld produced the first album by Los Campesinos!, last year's fantastic Hold On Now, Youngster!. All of which will probably be more than enough to have me watching their set. Here's "Anthems for a Seventeen Year-Old Girl", from my favorite BSS album, 2002's You Forgot It in People.

Meredith West Stage
5:15 PM – Cymbals Eat Guitars -- Another band I don't love the way my friends do, but still feel like I might come to like. These New Yorkers recently self-released their debut album, Why There Are Mountains, and it draws on a bunch of classic 1990s indie-rock reference points. I'm still not convinced they have the songs that bands like Built to Spill or Modest Mouse had, but I'll gladly check out their live show. Check out: "Wind Phoenix".

So, that's 80/35. I'm sure I'll see some other stuff and write about it here.

Wednesday, July 8 -- The Veronicas @ People's Court
Slick, catchy Australian electro-pop with mall-punk energy-- um, think Avril Lavigne. Color me curious. Especially after this single. But I'll be at the next event instead...

** Wednesday, July 8 -- Josh Ritter @ Vaudeville Mews
Josh Ritter is a folk-tinged, occasionally rockin' singer, guitarist, and songwriter from Moscow, Idaho. He has steadily expanded his songwriting range-- from the rootsy Americana of "Harrisburg" and "The Other Side" to the war-weary allusiveness of "Thin Blue Flame" and "Temptation of Adam"-- and his sound, too... the last time I saw him he was at Central Park with the New York Pops, but I've seen him probably about a half a dozen times since 2002 or so. One of my favorites. Here's something I wrote about him once; here's one of his many, many great songs, "Lillian, Egypt".

Thursday, July 9-- Boys Like Girls @ People's Court
I'm pretty sure I don't really like these guys. Only one way to find out...

Friday, July 10-- Gov't Mule @ Simon Estes Riverfront Amphitheatre
Allman Brothers offshoot rambles on. I might not go to this. But then again, I've never seen 'em, and I like guitars, so.

Thursday, July 16-- American Idol winner David Cook @ Simon Estes Riverfront Amphitheatre
Bigger confession than the one about Broken Social Scene: I have never watched an entire episode of American Idol. So I should definitely write about this.

Thursday, July 16-- Patrick Fleming @ Des Moines Social Club
...Unless I go to this. I probably won't be at 80/35 in time to see the Poison Control Center at noon on July 4 due to family obligations, but tonight their lead singer will be playing solo.

** Monday, July 20-- Japandroids @ Vaudeville Mews
These Canadians have what might be my favorite album of the year so far. When they play Vaudeville Mews, I will have already seen them the previous weekend at the p4k festival. I will go see them again, probably screaming my lungs out along with their scrappy two-man punk songs about girls and growing up. Here's what I already wrote about my favorite song by them. Here's the song, "Young Hearts Spark Fire".

Tuesday, July 21-- Gomez @ People's Court
Never been a huge fan of these anthemic Brits, and I'll probably be too exhausted to go. But I do know of people who like 'em.

Tuesday, July 21-- Steve Earle @ Hoyt Sherman
I would, on the other hand, gladly go see this alt-country legend. He's currently touring behind Townes, an album of Townes Van Zandt covers.

Wednesday, July 22-- Gogol Bordello @ People's Court
If you like Man Man at 80/35, you may want to check out this band led by Ukrainian-born Eugene Hutz. I think Man Man are better, but these dudes will still probably be interesting to check out. Madonna thought so.

Sunday, August 9-- Patrick Fleming @ Ames Progressive Space
Another chance to see Poison Control Center's lead singer play solo.

Friday, August 14-- Gary Allan @ Iowa State Fair
Hey, this is one of the new country guys I kind of like.

Saturday, August 15-- Peter Frampton and Gin Blossoms @ Iowa State Fair
Um, it's an option. I was just ranting rudely at a good friend about how I like Gin Blossoms better than R.E.M. I don't think that was actually true, but I do think they got a bad rap from the critics.

Sunday, August 16-- Big & Rich @ Iowa State Fair
I feel like my buddy Tom in Chicago would want me to go to this one.

Friday, August 21-- Brooks & Dunn and Jamey Johnson @ Iowa State Fair
Oh, hell yeah. I went to high school with Dunn's daughter (for a year-- it was in Nashville, of course). And I like Jamey Johnson, even if I don't think he's as good as other rock critics dabbling in country might say he is.

Saturday, August 22-- Kelly Clarkson @ Iowa State Fair
I think I'm the only human being who wasn't impressed by "Since U Been Gone". (I'd rather listen to that Strokes-Christina Aguilera mash-up, Freelance Hellraiser's "A Stroke of Genius", thanks.) But I will totally try to check this out, if only to do my duty as a music journalist.

Sunday, August 23-- Journey with Heart @ Iowa State Fair
This will probably be my day of rest. Sorry. "Don't Stop Believing" isn't even that great! (Mrs. Des Noise, like the rest of America, disagrees.)

Friday, Sept. 11-- Britney Spears @ Wells Fargo Arena
This is the way I always pay tribute to the victims of September 11.

Saturday, Sept. 26-- The Airborne Toxic Event @ People's Court
When I read the Don Delillo book from which this band got their name, I thought it was overrated, the sort of thing a celebrity might say is great just to feel smart-- the postmodern Old Man and the Sea. OK, I was still just a freshman in college. There's a very good chance I was wrong.

Other picks (I'll probably attend some of these):
Patrick Fleming: Casper and the Cookies Aug. 6 at the Vaudeville Mews, David Dondero July 31 at Ames Progressive Space, and Alexis Gideon in September

Ladd Askland: Soy Un Caballo on June 21, Francis Harold and the Holograms on July 7, Josh Ritter on July 8, Poppets on July 14, Japandroids on July 20, Those Darlins on July 22, Theodore on July 30, Casper and the Cookies on August 6, Red Pony Clock on Aug 21, and It's True on August 28.

OK, I know I'm missing a lot. So what is it?