Cut/Shadow @ the Hollywood Bowl

mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
edited June 2007 in Strut Central
This pefromance is For folks who thought itd just be Brainfreeze Pt. 3, it's nothing like it. I just can't believe they went from doing a Future Primitive Show to headlining the fucking Hollywood Bowl with this.
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  • DJ_ZestDJ_Zest 252 Posts
    What are they playing? Their own tunes? Enlighten us O-Dub...

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    It's CRAZY. They're into the 2nd set and...and...and...it's all de la soul breaks from 3 ft high.

    I shit you not.

    This is, of course, going over the head of prob 10000 people but I'm just bugged out.

    Seriosuly, it's kind of impossible to describe the mix of what's happening here. Their opening set was a lot of impalaville sweet soul records, I think, in tribute to this concer happening under the LA summer night sky.

  • djannadjanna 1,543 Posts
    fuck. I wanted to go to this so bad. Jealous!

  • DJ_ZestDJ_Zest 252 Posts
    Nice, thanks for the info, seems like an odd choice of music, considering next week is the sound of music sing a long!
    Good for Josh and Lucas tho - get that money!
    Zeb

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    "Eclectic" would be an understatement. Despite the basic conceit (all 45s) being the same, the song choice and execution are very, very different from Brainfreeze and Product Placement. Shit is almost avant garde.

    I really wonder what most of the crowd is thinking since this is part of KCRW's world music summer fest and the preceding two acts were very much in that vein.

  • Sounds dope.. Reads like you are posting from the Hollywood Bowl during the performance..?

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Ha - Devon Aoki is spinning the afterparty.

    Hollywooooooood.

  • SyminSymin 999 Posts
    did you get good seats O-dub?
    i looked at the layout of the hollywood bowl and it looks like some way back screen watching action if you dont got the loot to sit up close

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    Yeah, I had press seats in the Terrace section so it was pretty good.

    Just met Kim Fowley

  • wescoasiawescoasia 126 Posts
    I thought the best part of "The Hard Sell" was their board show, with a director cutting between the different cameras (I counted 10), including 2 wristcams, 2 fisheye angles, and their 7" themed animations/videos/graphics.

    But otherwise, I wasn't feeling the lets-play-a-bit-of-every-genre approach, although, they probably felt a little pressure trying to please the large Hollywood Bowl audience. I mean, was dropping Foo Fighters 'Everlong' really necessary? Seemed a bit awkward to hear. Plus, it was obvious they didn't coordinated/practice as much as Brainfreeze or Product Placement. I did enjoy the impalaville classics segment though.

  • JustAliceJustAlice 1,308 Posts
    was dropping Foo Fighters 'Everlong' really necessary?





    Did they end up doing anything with 'Rock around the Clock'?


    Liberace's encore???


    sounds like a good time.

  • But otherwise, I wasn't feeling the lets-play-a-bit-of-every-genre approach, )

    not seen the show yet - might try to catch one of the UK shows coming up but, surely this "every genre"approach is the whole point of hiphop - i.e to take bits of music from anywhere - and the sum of the parts is hopefully another genre itself (i.e Hip Hop) - whether it's hungarian prog rock breaks or Turkish psyche through to obscure midwest funk 45s - if played in a certain manner then the origin matters not.

    Though I'm not denying I've seen sets where DJs get a bit "too clever" (read: up their own arse) ...and just play a load of shitty obscure, "wacky", music with not even a good beat, in some "ironic" look-at-me-i'm-so-dangerous manner!


  • wescoasiawescoasia 126 Posts
    but, surely this "every genre"approach is the whole point of hiphop - i.e to take bits of music from anywhere - and the sum of the parts is hopefully another genre itself (i.e Hip Hop) - whether it's hungarian prog rock breaks or Turkish psyche through to obscure midwest funk 45s - if played in a certain manner then the origin matters not.

    Oh, indeed. I just didn't think they selected and executed the set very well. Definitely some interesting records in it, but as a whole it just wasn't very cohesive.

  • joaobossajoaobossa 128 Posts
    the set started with a film appreciation to the 45, approached like a 50's or 60's doc. it may have lasted 8 or 10 minutes? there's a lot less emphasis on funky beats....this one isn't for the heads all the way through....some of it is and part of it is almost disney-esque, more family friendly. for example, the major tune during the doo wop portion was "i only have eyes for you" by the flamingos-a major hit, there was a brazilian tribute which included the toni tornado tune with the break...there were a lot of cuts dropped and played at minus 8--real slow, dj screw style....the de la part heavily featured the funk 45 "cookie jar"....they incorporated 8 turntables....cut seemed to be running from table to table for than shadow....contrary to the announcement, they spun some 12" vinyl, not exclusively 45's....they didn't talk....when they were done, kim fowley introduced himself and announced the show was over....

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    but, surely this "every genre"approach is the whole point of hiphop - i.e to take bits of music from anywhere - and the sum of the parts is hopefully another genre itself (i.e Hip Hop) - whether it's hungarian prog rock breaks or Turkish psyche through to obscure midwest funk 45s - if played in a certain manner then the origin matters not.

    Oh, indeed. I just didn't think they selected and executed the set very well. Definitely some interesting records in it, but as a whole it just wasn't very cohesive.

    I think that's a fair criticism. It definitely was NOT like BF or PP in that respect. This was far more eclectic and/or ambitious and it also wasn't solely focused on hip-hop or funk headz to get into. To be honest, it felt much more like a "DJ Shadow" show insofar as I found a lot of the musical aesthetics to be more in line with stuff I associate with Shadow vs. Cut.

    Personally, I'm glad they didn't try to cook up another BF sequel and that they really tried to do something different. That said, I'm not surprised by folks who didn't find the set as enjoyable for the same reason.

    It was kind of cool to catch the moments where you could tell the set got away from them (though I think the vast majority of the crowd wouldn't have noticed); I ran into Shadow afterwards and he was chuckling at it but hell, they were trying an EIGHT turntable routine b/t the two of them that they probably had only finalized a few days ago. Just reminds you: this is live, not Memorex.

  • oldjeezyoldjeezy 134 Posts
    That's cool that they keep pushing the envelope. It's the individual personalities that make DJ sets interesting, so more power to em for trying something different. There are a lot of ways they could have played it safe for that crowd (Brainfreeze '07, wedding DJ-type ish, KCRW's greatest hits).

    It's weird knowing you're one of the only heads in the crowd the "gets it". That crowd is a bunch of hipster Beckys. They should have just cut up some Norah Jones.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    It's CRAZY. They're into the 2nd set and...and...and...it's all de la soul breaks from 3 ft high.

    I shit you not.

    No offense, but what's so next level about that?

    I think I was subjected to essentially the same routine more than once during the mid/late nineties.

  • kalakala 3,362 Posts
    hahaha
    sounds like they were spinning "oldies"
    as percieved by a younger crowd

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    It's CRAZY. They're into the 2nd set and...and...and...it's all de la soul breaks from 3 ft high.

    I shit you not.

    No offense, but what's so next level about that?

    I think I was subjected to essentially the same routine more than once during the mid/late nineties.

    It wasn't that next level. It was more, well, unexpected than anything else. Like I said, it was a pretty strange performance overall, at least for those who were actually familiar with BF and PP and assumed this would be in the same vein. This was a total shift and as others have indicated, not as entertaining (though perhaps, that wasn't the point this time around) and definitely more challenging. I wouldn't be surprised if folks came away feeling disappointed and while I didn't feel that way, I think it's a fair critique.

  • faux_rillzfaux_rillz 14,343 Posts
    It's CRAZY. They're into the 2nd set and...and...and...it's all de la soul breaks from 3 ft high.

    I shit you not.

    No offense, but what's so next level about that?

    I think I was subjected to essentially the same routine more than once during the mid/late nineties.

    It wasn't that next level. It was more, well, unexpected than anything else. Like I said, it was a pretty strange performance overall, at least for those who were actually familiar with BF and PP and assumed this would be in the same vein. This was a total shift and as others have indicated, not as entertaining (though perhaps, that wasn't the point this time around) and definitely more challenging. I wouldn't be surprised if folks came away feeling disappointed and while I didn't feel that way, I think it's a fair critique.

    Oh. Sorry--I misread your use of the graemlin as indicating next leveltude.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    well, what was was seeing them performing this on stage at the Hollywood Bowl. That's an entirely personal reaction - this all began almost 10 years ago at a Future Primitive Sound Session...then grew to show up at the Knitting Factory and, at its biggest, the El Rey. Now they're headlining in front of 10,000+? It's pretty mindblowing in that regard.

    And I loved their opening set which was still pretty conceptual...lot of L.A. lowrider soul and given the setting, it was rather perfect. And overall, the performance was kind of next level but that doesn't mean it was "the greatest thing ever performed." As noted, it lacked cohesion (and coherence at points).

  • joaobossajoaobossa 128 Posts
    I wouldn't be surprised if folks came away feeling disappointed and while I didn't feel that way, I think it's a fair critique.
    i wasn't disappointed either, more curious. it was ambitious and different. they threw the digging-in-the-crates mentality out the window to some extent. also, if you look at what happened historically after BF, they almost single-handedly popularized deep funk and the prices of funk 45's went all nutty. Hard Sell is somewhat of a sound spectacle, with a lot of chapters to it. I wished the volume was three times louder as they performed, coz it seemed the sound only came from columns close to the stage and did not use the Bowl's own sound system as well.

  • Mr. CasualMr. Casual 953 Posts
    I wouldn't be surprised if folks came away feeling disappointed and while I didn't feel that way, I think it's a fair critique.
    i wasn't disappointed either, more curious. it was ambitious and different. they threw the digging-in-the-crates mentality out the window to some extent. also, if you look at what happened historically after BF, they almost single-handedly popularized deep funk and the prices of funk 45's went all nutty. Hard Sell is somewhat of a sound spectacle, with a lot of chapters to it. I wished the volume was three times louder as they performed, coz it seemed the sound only came from columns close to the stage and did not use the Bowl's own sound system as well.

    I wished the volume was three times louder

    I wished the volume was three times louder

    I wished the volume was three times louder

    I wished the volume was three times louder

    I wished the volume was three times louder

    Other than that... I had a wonderful time... I could have asked for another 30 minutes.. but hey.. This was a relaxing Sunday evening under the stars with fantastic video footage and a cool vibe..


    if you walked away disappointed than that is your problem....

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts



    if you walked away disappointed than that is your problem....

    Like I said - I enjoyed it - but I can understand how the night might have thrown other folks off. I certainly am curious what the HB season ticket holders thought.

  • rkwparkrkwpark 915 Posts
    is this something they will release on dvd/cd?

    and for some reason i keep getting this image in my head.

  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    HEY NOBODY'S EVER PLAYED LOWRIDER OLDIES FOR HIPSTEURS BEFORE




  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    For Bay Area people they'll be doing the set at the Treasure Island Festival on September 16th. I'm excited to hear it...since they did a very LA focused show at the Bowl maybe the Bay Area one will be Bay focused? I would be down for that in a big way.

  • mannybolonemannybolone Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
    For Bay Area people they'll be doing the set at the Treasure Island Festival on September 16th. I'm excited to hear it...since they did a very LA focused show at the Bowl maybe the Bay Area one will be Bay focused? I would be down for that in a big way.

    The L.A. show wasn't very L.A. focused besides the opening set and even that wasn't "L.A." per se. But sure, I could see them swapping out the Flamingos for...the Emulations or Masterplan or something. That'd be dope.

  • dstill808dstill808 704 Posts
    I was at the show, but would love to hear a CD of this so I could hear what was happening (or supposed to be happening).

  • CraigCraig 269 Posts
    sounds interesting. hopefully im goin to catch them here in the u.k. on the 6th of july in manchester. one of there two dates they are doin over here.
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