Music: It's Concert Season
A real time take on the sights and sounds of the music scene, mixed in with a little fashion. This week our resident music expert, Taj Simpson, gets into the groove of the start of concert season wirh his Signature Blue Oxford, live from Las Vegas.
4.14.13
It's about 7:30 pm Friday night when my weekend finally gets started. Some preppy punks from New York that call themselves Vampire Weekend are tonight's entertainment.
I'm wearing my OLE MASON JAR Signature Blue Oxford with black pants and black frames. My roommate is wearing jeans, chucks, and a plain white v-neck. He throws on a blazer to which he states, "Since it's a Cosmopolitan night." He's right; everything is over the top at this place.
It's a hot spring night so the crowd is dressed up mostly in jeans, dresses, rolled-up sleeves, and t-shirts with quick sayings like "Brunettes Do It Better."
The Boulevard Pool of the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is the venue Vampire Weekend will be playing tonight. And the night after, some psycho-drama misfits also from New York that call themselves Yeah Yeah Yeahs will be playing a show. We're lucky to get these bands as they stop in Vegas before or after they perform at the Coachella Music & Arts Festival currently taking place in Indio, California.
I'm backstage talking with a fellow friend and music writer when I hear DMX's "What's My Name" play over the amps. The crowd erupts as the members of Vampire Weekend take the stage. They jump straight into "Cousins". It's a non-stop dance party.
Stylistically, the members of Vampire Weekend keep it simple. They are all clean cut and appear to be wearing shirts straight from OLE MASON JAR’s Alexander Collection. If I didn't know any better, I would guess that they just finished out their work week at an accounting firm and decided to get together to play some rock n' roll jams for friends (that would be us!) at a pretty fancy house party.
Mixing in songs from both albums, they give us a three song sneak peek of their upcoming album. The best way I can describe the new tracks is 50's rock with a hip-hop influence. I can already tell, it's already one of our favorite albums of the summer.
Yeah Yeah Yeah, let's get into Saturday night. I'm running late per usual, but I'm not missing this show for the world. Lead singer Karen O and her boys take the stage at 10:08 pm. After that, it's nothing but rock n' rage for the rest of the night. And I'm not just saying that. Watching the show from backstage and seeing the energy from the crowd was just as exciting as KO's theatrical stage antics.
There are not enough adjectives in the world to ever describe what Karen O is wearing. Her long time friend and fashion designer Christian Joy has made sure of that. But I'll gladly tell you what the other members of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs were wearing; all black everything.
After a monster set and an unforgettable encore, it seemed like "Maps" was going to be the official closing song for this flawless production. But as the song came to an end, KO turned to her band mates nodding for one more.
Yeah, we didn't want the night to end just yet neither. Maybe the best part about shows isn't the shows themselves; but coming together to see old friends, meet new strangers and collect another great memory you can put into life's pocket.
• • •
What I'm listening to, currently:
Kaskade - Start Again
Passion Pit - I'll Be Alright
Feed Me - Love Is All I Got
Fame - Breaking My Heart (feat. Aaron Michael)
A$AP Rocky - Fashion Killa
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Gold Lion (Nick Remix)
Wiz Khalifa - Remember You (feat. The Weeknd)
Purity Ring - Saltkin
Jay-Z - Otis
Vampire Weekend - Diane Young
Rudimental - Not Giving In (feat. John Newman & Alex Clare)
Frank Ocean - Pyramids
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Taj Simpson is OLE MASON JAR's music correspondent who lives in Las Vegas, NV. Always dressed for the right occasion, Taj also has a keen ear for the right sound...keeping us at the forefront of the music scene, and in tune with the freshest tracks and artists you may / or may not have heard of.
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