Not going to Outside Lands but still need your live music fix? Or, headed to Outside Lands and need to start getting pumped? In either case, you might want to just camp out at the Independent this week.
Tuesday: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at The Independent
It might be unfair to compare CYHSY to modern rock gods Arcade Fire. Arcade Fire has grandiose ambitions to change everything about everything, and CYHSY didn’t. Or at least didn’t seem to. But both came of age around the mid-2000s, each armed with indie cred, critical acclaim, and basically the same audience demographic and size. CYHSY — like Arcade Fire — garnered world-conquering comparisons to Talking Heads, Radiohead, Neutral Milk Hotel, and other luminaries. One band has assumed the rightful keys to major festival headliner status. The other is Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, which seems to now be attempting a run at something bigger and bolder with its 2014 album Only Run.
Tuesday and Wednesday: Beyoncé, Jay-Z at AT&T Park
Oh no! Jay and Bea are having marital issues, EVERYBODY PANIC. AHHHHH! Or, ya know, don’t. We’re always skeptical of tabloid fodder, especially if it has no bearing on the onstage product. We just want to see these two world-class, world-changing performers do their thing. Let’s let them check their personal baggage at the door and enjoy every minute of what should be a riveting set.
Wednesday: Phosphorescent at The Independent
Warning: Phosphorescent’s Matthew Houck doesn’t care much for life on the road. But at least he’s honest about it. He confided to Pitchfork last year: “It sounds really bratty to [complain] about being able to travel and play music for a living, but touring is a damaging and destructive way of life. There’s a kind of mental blankness that being on the road encourages. You have to shut down a few things in your mind, or you’ll go crazy. If you’re touring at my level, you’re not touring in a comfortable bus. You’ve got to get up at a certain time of the day and then shut yourself down for six hours while you’re driving. It does something to your mind and your spirit. It’s not like you can do much that's productive when you’re crammed in a van, except read a book or listen to some tunes. It makes your mind lazy.
Friday: Miami Horror at Neck of the Woods
What a treat that we may see Melbourne’s Miami Horror in the cozy confines of Neck of the Woods. Expect synthed-out anthems and nostalgia at every turn. Benjamin Plant’s pet project has turned into a globally respected entity thanks to 2010’s absurdly fun debut album Illumination. The indie-electronica act just released its first single from their follow-up album, which is due for a late-2014 release.
Friday: Death Cab for Cutie at The Independent
Death Cab at the Indy, you say? We say ... yes, please. Good luck nabbing a ticket for this one, but the gig still begs mentioning if only for the fact that this could be one of the greatest massively-popular-band-meets-intimate-music-club of the decade. It’s really a toss-up between this set and Saturday’s Killers at the Independent show. Thank you, Outside Lands Night Shows series. Thank you, Outside Lands.
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