KROQ Almost Acoustic XMAS

First of all, I hate the name of this annual concert. The damn thing was over two nights of Hanukkah and it's not acoustic at all. I guess back in the day it was some dumb radio joke, but now it's so old it's out of context.

I have desperately wanted to see Muse for about 6 years, before they were famous, before they sold out. And when I learned that they were headlining, I commanded Jordan to get tickets, and we did! Sitting in the 2nd to last row on the balcony wasn't bad either, in fact I rather liked it.

I was actually surprised to find I at least enjoyed every band I heard. At the Weenie Roast this summer, I didn't like quite a few of the people that played, and not just because I didn't like their music, but their live performances also sucked. No one at acoustic xmas had a poor stage presence, and everyone seemed a lot more musically talented and original then most people out there these days.

White Rabbits
I had never heard of before. This is going to sound terrible, but I can hardly remember what genre of rock, but there was a piano involved, and although I cant remember I know I enjoyed them at the time. There was also heavy drumming which I tend to be attracted to.

Metric
I'd been aware of who Metric was but couldn't really place any of their songs until they played "Help I'm Alive". Before that though I really got into them. The lead singer looks like Madonna and Uma Thurman's love-child. She was awesome, not in the obnoxious rocker chick way either.

Cage the Elephant
We'd seen these guys at Weenie Roast...and it seems the lead singer still doesn't understand that he needs to not have an epileptic fit if he wants us to hear the lyrics. I swear, I can't believe no one's told him yet. Even so I really like this band, and his psycho passion for his music. But really just keep your head still dude.

Phoenix
I mean I like phoenix, but they're not that exciting...they're kinda girly, in a way I don't find appealing. And it seemed the stadium swelled with girls while they played, as if many of them came just for Phoenix. I got food at this point, and only watched their last song, in which the lead singer got out into the audience and seemed to be staring at himself on the big screen.

Vampire Weekend
They were certainly different. They had that surfer guitar thing going on, reminiscent of 60s. They weren't as fun to watch, but I did like their music. What an unfortunate name, I kept thinking, where is Edward? Is this some kind of nod to these Twi-hards?

Slightly Stoopid
I liked a lot! I <3 reggae beats, ska, and rock, and these guys definitely fit in that genre. They had a horn and a sax which made me happy. I thought of Humboldt and that made me happy too. This is the type of band I'd like to dance to.

The Bravery
Awesome performers. Although I have a problem with some of their songs since they sound strangely too close to The Killers, and I don't know who came first but oh well. They were pretty cool, I went pee during some of their set. But what I did hear I enjoyed.

311
Another band I've been dying to see live for years. I came for Muse, but 311 was like the icing on a great cake. They're old pros and you can tell. They love their fans, and they're also awesome on stage. I thought it was smokey after Slighty Stoopid but boy oh boy was it skunky during this set. They also did a big percussion section since their set was 50 minutes rather then the 30 everyone else had been delegated. The percussion set started with an amazing drum solo by the drummer, and while he was raging on his drums, they set up four other drums for the rest of the band who came out and played too. Again reminded me of Humboldt, I used to go to percussion ensemble performances all the time.

MUSE MUSE MUSE MUSE MUSE MUSE
Although they came out 10 minutes late due to some mysterious issue, they fulfilled my Muse fantasies. Like I said I've been listening to them for like years now, before they became famous. They're a band dear to my heart, and someone I can never get sick of (although I think they rushed their most recent album). It's strange cause their rather hard core drum and guitar wise, but the classical piano and operatic vocals pull it back from being too hard. And live they do each aspect to the max. I love them, I just don't know how to explain it. I feel like their music really makes up for most of the performance, because it's so dramatic on it's own, but for only 3 guys you'd think there were 10 cause they killed it!