Review + Photos: FIDLAR at the Fox Theater
FIDLAR (photo: Dariush Azmoudeh) The Fox Theater, a beautiful Oakland venue with a light-up marquee outside and an elegant inside with golden carved trim surrounding the stage, is truly a work of art and architecture. On stage, however, a plain white banner with the band’s name, in what looks like handwriting, hung. That band is FIDLAR, quite the opposite of elegant. They are loud, rowdy, and rough around the edges— but in a good way. The way rock music was intended to be. A mix of surf, garage, and punk rock, the Los Angeles-based band brought a high-energy show to [...]
The Bay Abridged: Dec 2 – Dec 8
In this recurring feature known as The Bay Abridged, our staff writers will provide short, witty recaps on shows they attended around the Bay Area. A scene check, a heat check, and sometimes more — stop by every Wednesday for the most comprehensive and concise recap of last week's Bay Area concert scene. Family of the Year at The Independent (SF) Dec. 1 I arrived with an open mind, appreciating the overly catchy hooks that make shitty bands popular. They were a sight to behold with dramatic arm gestures straight out of a beer commercial. Rhyming "ocean" with "love potion" [...]
Photos: FIDLAR invigorate the crowd at Slim’s
FIDLAR (photo: Brittany O'Brien) Despite an illness in the band forcing Los Angeles-based group FIDLAR to reschedule their original date at Slim's from October, they were quick to get to the Bay Area last Wednesday, December 2, 2015, to give a crazy performance to an enthusiastic crowd. Photographer Brittany O'Brien has these photos from the show.
Review: Wavves, FIDLAR @ Bottom of the Hill, 3/22/13
Both hailing from Los Angeles, Wavves and FIDLAR are probably two of the most divisive bands currently making music. Critics are torn, fans are torn: are they genuinely as immature and irresponsible as their lyrics portray? Or is it an act — a character of excess (FIDLAR > beer :: Wavves > whining) inspired by rap music's character-driven style? The answer, as always, lies somewhere in the middle and Friday night's sold-out show at Bottom of the Hill reminded everyone in attendance that yes, both bands intend to be, in their own way, slightly annoying. And yes, both groups write [...]
Review: FIDLAR, Pangea, Meat Market @ Bottom of the Hill, 1/18/13
After milling about in an unusually long door queue, I wandered into Bottom of the Hill on Friday night smack in the middle of Oakland-via-Santa Cruz garage-surf foursome Meat Market’s rowdy set. The youthful group, who can now add their name to the tremendous roster of spry, talented Bay Area garage rock bands, wore amused grins throughout the show, dedicating songs to enthusiastic friends in the pit. Their music is lightweight and danceable, the singing style a mix of surf rock staple ooh-aahs and sore throat inducing screeches. LA-based Pangea played next and brought the same surf-punk-garage mix to the [...]
Interview: FIDLAR drops self-titled debut album and discusses the highs and lows of partying
Over the last couple of years, FILDAR has collected a dedicated fan base across the US and Europe with its aggressive, unapologetic punk music without even having released a full-length record. Mostly through word of mouth, music blogs, the band's own DIY mentality and of course the music -- quick-fired riffs, poppy hooks and raw lyrics that quite literally chronicle the day to day happenings of being broke and under the influence, FIDLAR has captured the hearts of young, and not so young, souls looking for an excuse to party. The band has been on the road for the last [...]
Oakland's Meat Market joins FIDLAR and Pangea at Bottom of the Hill this Friday 1/18/13
Garage punk four-piece Meat Market swings through San Francisco on Friday night, marking the second stop in a week-long tour of California alongside cohorts FIDLAR and Pangea. Originally formed in Santa Cruz while the band members attended college, the group pools a diverse set of musical interests, ranging from punk and garage to blues and old-school surf, into its sound. The result is a deftly combined mix of gritty garage rock tunes and sun-bleached melodies that calls to mind groups such as Black Lips and The Growlers. Buzz from the band's self-titled, Sugar Mountain-recorded album in early 2012 led to [...]
Live This Month: January 2013 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #296)
Live This Month: January 2013 — an audio guide through SF concerts this month (Podcast #296) In Live This Month, we sample some of the great local and out-of-town bands performing in the coming month in the San Francisco Bay Area. Plenty of local bands are highlighted among this month's picks, including Kowloon Walled City, a heavy SF quartet celebrating their new LP, Container Ships, with a show at the Hemlock Tavern this month. It's a great bill from top to bottom, rounded out by SF psych rockers Golden Void and instrumental trio Minot. Meanwhile, after last year's terrific Under [...]
FIDLAR, Pangea, and Meat Market coming to Bottom of the Hill on 1/18/13
L.A. garage-punk brats FIDLAR and Pangea will blow up Bottom of the Hill on January 18th with Oakland's Meat Market. Even though the show is all ages, you can probably expect to leave covered in "Cheap Beer": FIDLAR, an acronym for "Fuck It Dog, Life's a Risk", was started in 2009 by guitarist Zac Carper. Joined by Elvis Kuehn, Brandon Schwartzel, Max Kuehn, the band achieves unlikely West Coast pop hooks with a manic sense of raw youthfulness and the aggressively lethargic push-and-pull of a passively rebellious lifestyle. The band will release its self-titled debut EP on January 22nd via [...]
Review & Photos: Total Trash Halloween Bash, Day 3 @ Lobot Gallery, 10/28/12
In near total darkness, Coachwhips appeared magically not on the stage but on the dance floor near the exit. Singing through a blowpop and without a PA they managed to have better sound than anyone on the actual stage. Although Austin's Amplified Heat unofficially closed the evening, The Coachwhips certainly were the grand finale for my beer-soaked weekend. Sunday night at the Lobot Gallery, what could be sweeter? With cheap Tecate and Beam, it was truly the weekend that wouldn't die, and John Dwyer is officially my hero. I hadn't seen The Coachwhips before and I may never be the [...]