Of Montreal Covers The White Stripes

Of Montreal covered The White Stripes' Fell in Love with a Girl.  It's not a bad cover, but I thought they would somehow have a more Of Montreal sound to it, like you could tell it's them singing.  Instead it just sounds like the song, but with screechy vocals.

Sound Bites 11.0: The Market @ Santa Monica Place

The Market (it's like a gourmet food court) just opened last weekend and Jennio and I got to check it out during their preview.  It was nice to see some new dining options for 3rd Street Promenade.

Here were some of the standouts:

• Beachy Cream - retro girls serving up tasty, organic ice cream sandwiches
• L'Artisan du Chocolat - they had such a beautiful display of chocolates, I wanted to eat them all
• Primi Al Mercato - liked their interesting, handmade pastas
• Röckenwagner - with their array of dessert souffles 
• Venokado - I didn't get a chance to try their wine, but I did like their whimsical gift items
• Norcino Salumeria Cheese Bar - they had some great mortadella and sopressata
• The Cookie Guru - had some amazing chewy and gooey chocolate chip cookies
• The Curious Palate - their menu made me curious, but they were only serving beer, so I actually thought it was a pub at first.  I do like the idea of farm-to-table cooking

Local Natives, Arcade Fire @ The Joint in Hard Rock Hotel, Las Vegas

Nathan's Famous

As soon as we got to Las Vegas, we settled into our hotel and only had time for a quick bite at Nathan's Famous (for their hot dogs).  Matt was shocked that I had never heard of Nathan's ("but they're famous at Coney Island!").  1. I've never been to Coney Island and 2. I didn't grow up in New York. 

Later on I listened to a Stuff You Should Know podcast and learned that they're also famous for their hot dog eating contests.  Okay, maybe I should have known that.  Anyways, I could see why he liked them so much.  The hot dog produced a nice snap as I bit into it and the Crinkle Cut fries were addictive. 


Local Natives

As we entered the Hard Rock Hotel, I was inundated by douchiness (although I did like seeing the music memorabilia).  I thought the floor plan for The Joint would be similar to House of Blues, but it was much bigger.  I actually liked it a lot.  It had 3 balconies for VIP and several raised levels on the ground floor, so you could get a good view in various spots. 

That is a mighty mustache.

Fortunately (or maybe unfortunately because people missed out on a great band), not many people there knew who Local Natives were, so we got really close to the stage. 

Now, whenever I listen to Local Natives, I always imagine them playing acoustically around a campfire.  I know they sound great with strings (definitely check out their KCRW performance) and they sound good live (listen to Brainstormer I - Riverhouse Barn), but I still thought of them as a pretty mellow band.  I never thought they would be moshable, but they changed my mind after they got everyone throwing their hands up and jumping around for Sun Hands.



I haven't sung that loud, or jumped around that much, at a show in awhile. 

More Video:
Wide Eyes


Arcade Fire

I have to agree with @grimyGoods' tweet

They were definitely done sound checking before the hour it took for them to come out.  I hate when bands keep you waiting for no reason. 

I couldn't be mad for long because they played a high energy set.

I loved hearing Haiti, The Suburbs, Rococo (my favorite song off The Suburbs), and the epic Wake Up, but I was disappointed they didn't play My Body is a Cage. 

Loved how Win joked about how corny he used to think Hard Rock Cafe was

* Local Natives and Arcade Fire photos courtesy of Renee Barrera


Oyster Bar in Palace Station

I was apprehensive as soon as I stepped foot into Palace Station because honestly, it looked like the Walmart of Vegas hotels.  And I know midnight probably isn't the ideal time to eat seafood, but I'm glad we went because there was hardly a wait (it was still full, so we did have to wait for a couple to leave) and the most experienced chef was working that night. 

We ate:

• Seafood Combination -  there was cause for concern after reading about this starter in Gas-tron-o-my, but we were so hungry!  The oysters and clams were surprisingly good (although I did have 1 bad clam) and the huge shrimp were unfortunately overcooked
• Pan Roast - I had heard so many good things about this and they were all true.  I wish I had some right now
• Manhattan Clam Chowder - this is how Manhattan Clam Chowder should be, not like the sad tomato juice version I had at Sam's Chowder House

Top: Manhattan clam chowder. Bottom: Pan Roast

Coincidentally, we ran into a Long Beach, food-loving couple who had also come here to eat right after the same concert.  Small world.

High Note - Glee's "Prom Queen" Ep: I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance with You

Lately, I don't understand the song choices for Glee.  They either choose really overplayed songs or they don't even seem to make an effort to cover them in a different way.  I can't believe they contributed to Rebecca Black's undeserved wealth by covering Friday...badly (although Art can do no wrong).  I guess it makes sense that it would get played at a prom because it's so bad it's funny and so many people already know the lyrics, but I didn't think I'd have to experience it on TV. 

I was a little worried about hearing another Adele song on Glee because of Gwyneth Paltrow's paltry version (lyrics fit the scene, but there's no way she could ever have a strong enough voice to sing one of Adele's songs.  That was the first time I was really disappointed by one of her covers), but Jesse and Rachel had the chops to carry it.  I'm just not a huge fan of the church choir version.  They didn't even really try to put a new spin on it besides turning it into a duet. 

Black Kids + unbelievably catchy dance song + Blaine (I love how The Warblers cover songs in a barbershop quartet kind of way) = high note of ep.