Little Dragon and Billygoat at Rhythm Room was hands-down the best show of 2011 thus far. It’s one of the best shows I’ve seen in years, to be more forthright. This was the most packed I’ve seen the venue in quite awhile, and the crowd was really into the performance all night. The show started off with the orchestral music and beautiful stop animation video of Portland’s Billygoat and then swiftly moved to the main event. I don’t think anyone could have possibly left this show without a smile on their face. Tyler Nevitt caught some photos from a very memorable night that started off February the right way.



















MP3: Little Dragon – Twice (Freddie Joachim Remix)

Here’s another set of photos courtesy of Tyler Nevitt, which I’ve again managed to post late. One of these days I’ll get this straight! These photos come from a very special set that No Age played at The Trunk Space. The band was scheduled to play on a stage outside, but rainy weather reared it’s head and the band had to head inside. A bunch of kids crammed in the room to see a band that is more at home on the festival circuit these days. Of course, this also allowed Tyler to grab some pretty intimate photos from the show.

I want to start off with saying that Tyler Nevitt took these photos at the release show on JANUARY 27th! How bad has the slacking gotten around these parts? Sorry, Tyler and everyone else awaiting these photos. It’s nice to go back to the photos a few weeks after the show though. It brought me back to that night and remembering how awesome it was. Small Leaks Sink Ships played two sets on that fine evening at Rhythm Room to celebrate the release of their new EP. It’s called “Oak Street Basement” and you can get it on iTunes and at all the local record stores. Have a listen to the first single at the end of the post.

Small Leaks Sink Ships – Pray For Pills

Tyler Nevitt most likely hates me. That’s right, even though he’s a regular contributor to the site, I have a feeling he secretly despises me behind my back. After all, I continuously sit on series of photos he sends me. In fact, I think he started his own blog to just to spite me by posting his photos when they’re most relevant. How dare he!? Seriously though, this blog is a one man show and this man is often lazy or incredibly busy. With all that said, here’s some awesome photos that Tyler shot at the sold out Best Coast and Wavves show at The Clubhouse. I heard the energy levels were pretty damn high in the room that night. Did the show live up to the hype of those of you that attended?

Being a total hermit has caused me to miss a lot of great shows lately. I can’t really blame anyone but myself for a situation like that, but it’s the truth regardless. The show at The Clubhouse featuring The Black Angels and Black Mountain was the latest of my missed opportunities. I hear this one was really one I shouldn’t have missed. While I sit here and pity myself, at least you all can enjoy the pictures that the supremely talented Tyler Nevitt grabbed at the show. I’ll make sure I don’t miss these bands next time they come around!

I didn’t manage to make it to this show, but I didn’t hear good things about the Best Coast performance. Their set at Fun Fun Fun Fest was pretty entertaining, but I was getting a bit on an “indie diva” vibe from Bethany during the set. Apparently that came out to the extreme at their sold-out show at the Rhythm Room. It always blows my mind when bands come in and act all annoyed and give a shitty performance when they sell out a show at such an awesome venue. Oh well, that’s show business I guess. There will be a lot of people skipping their next show in town at the very least. I’m totally bummed I missed Sonny And The Sunsets though! Here’s Tyler Nevitt’s photos.

I’m not gonna lie, I’ve been totally lazy and unmotivated since I got back from Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin last Monday. In fact, I’ve been sitting on a whole bunch of photos from contributor Tyler Nevitt and he probably hates me for it right about now. Sorry about that one Tyler! Luckily for you though, I’m posting all of the backlog of photos right now. For those of you that don’t know Tyler, he is a local photographer-extraordinaire and also runs the blog Street Ape. He has been an infrequent contributor to this site, but expect to be seeing a lot more of his work here in the future. Here’s some photos from Bear In Heaven and Lower Dens playing at probably my favorite venue in the state last Thursday night. I’m sad I missed this one, but stoked Tyler grabbed photos.

It isn’t often that you get to see a tour with a legend in the electronic music scene backed up by one of the quickest rising stars in the same scene. However, that’s just what Phoenicians got last night when Caribou and Toro Y Moi hit The Clubhouse. Both artists have released albums that are among the best of this year, and the idea to pair them together in a tour was a great one. Once again contributor Tyler Nevitt was on the scene to capture the show inside the sweatbox venue. Summer must be on it’s way or something!

If the photos aren’t enough for you, I’m also posting the new single from Toro Y Moi called “Leave Everywhere”. This is off a 7″ coming out on Carpark on July 20th. Instead of the electronic-based bedroom productions we’re used to from Chaz Bundick’s project, he used all analog instruments to record the tracks on this 7″. It’s a nice change of pace and adds a little more warmth to his sound.

MP3: Toro Y Moi – Leave Everywhere



Toro Y Moi





















Caribou

I’m more than a little late posting these photos, and I can promise you it’s not Tyler’s fault! He actually got these to me right after the show, but my switch to working first shift and getting up at 6 in the morning has certainly ruined my posting schedule as of late. But now that I’m beginning to adjust to it, I’ll be returning to giving you the constant updates you expect from FMF. As mentioned, these photos were taken by FMF contributor Tyler Nevitt at Mesa Arts Center, when The Album Leaf and Sea Wolf recently stopped by.

The Ikeda Theater inside of MAC is the most beautiful venue in town and the sound is absolutely breathtaking. A perfect setting to play host to two bands that are prone to lush landscapes of sound. I missed this show unfortunately, but I’m really glad I have these photos from Tyler to live vicariously through. If you didn’t get a chance to go to this one, hopefully they’ll give you the same pleasure. If you still haven’t gotten a chance to see a show at this venue, don’t pass up the next good act that comes through. You’ve just gotta experience it.

Sea Wolf











The Album Leaf

Monday night’s show was one of my most anticipated shows of the year. I can say I was only more excited about seeing Phoenix play earlier in the year, but Beach House managed to blow away even that stellar performance. I did get incredibly sad when the show got moved from Rhythm Room to The Clubhouse. The venue is much less intimate and almost always has issues with sound. There’s really no excuse for a venue of that size that does shows as often as they do to have such awful sound. I know lots of you would agree.

My worst fears were confirmed when The Middle East took the stage. They sounded incredibly thin and were actually giving me a headache for the first couple of songs. The issues with sound soon started to dissolve and I began getting into the band’s stage show quite a bit. I’d love to see them again in another environment more fitting to their band. Luckily Bachelorette sounded pretty wonderful from the start. Arizona was lucky to get a visit from the one woman band led by Annabel Alpers. Her psych-pop sound mixes elements of electronic and analog instruments and her beautiful vocals and the visuals projected onto the screen behind her really set the stage for Beach House.

And what can be said about Beach House? They managed to sell out the show a second time after it moved venues and everyone in the room seemed to be screaming at maximum volume whenever there was a moment of silence between songs. Victoria’s voice is one of the most distinguishable and powerful in all of music today and I have never seen a vocalist command the room the way she did on Monday night. While they played a set that was heavy on “Teen Dream” tracks, they did manage to sneak a few older ones in for us longtime fans. Contributor Tyler Nevitt was there to get a few shots of the night.



The Middle East:









Bachelorette:









Beach House: