Review
Indie 103.1's Bands in Toyland
- Author:
- Review Date:
- 12/10/2007
Dec. 5, 2007 Avalon, Hollywood – 'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that Indie One-O-Three would soon be there. Alright, so it wasn’t exactly the night before Christmas, but the holiday cheer was definitely present at the Bands in Toyland show hosted by Los Angeles/Orange County radio station Indie 103.1. The show was hosted to benefit the firefighter toy drives and was joined with indie artists Spoon, Sea Wolf, Datarock, and Pinback. With the fire disasters this year, this was definitely a good time to celebrate the Los Angeles firefighters for all their hard work and efforts.
The show started with a cozy atmosphere as the audience swayed to the music of LA band Sea Wolf. Playing songs off their EP and album, the band got the show going with a great start. Lead singer and guitarist Alex Brown Church leads with his deep raspy voice which is comforting, folky, and mellow. They even gave their set a Christmas feel with some holiday tunes. When hit song “You’re a Wolf” came on, the audience cheered and sang along in good spirits.
Next on the line up and storming in from the freezing cold of Norway were Datarock in their matching red jump suits. This electro-indie-pop band definitely got the party started with their lively, chaotic, and energetic songs. Fredrik Saroea and Ket-ill lead the band with guitars, drums, percussions, keyboards, and a saxophone while jumping around like a rock aerobics video. The height of their set had to be when they performed “FaFaFa” with the audience grooving and singing to the chorus of this catchy melodic tune. Some bands start off slow and end with a bang, but with Datarock it was just one big adrenaline rush after another. The band ended their set with “The Time of our Lives” from Dirty Dancing which completely encapsulated their show with a warm fuzzy feeling.
Third on the list of exciting bands was Pinback. This indie rock collective hails from the sunny world of San Diego. With hearts still racing from the previous band, Pinback’s performance felt a little more mellow and downtempo. However, the band still put on a good show with catchy rock riffs from songs off their new album Autumn of the Seraphs, and older albums like Summer in Abaddon. The band started the show with “Bouquet” off their newest release and ended their set with the audience voting for “A.F.K”.
Saving the best for last, the hosting DJ from Indie 103.1 announced that the toy drive was a success with collection boxes full of wrapped goodies and presented Austin, Texas rockers Spoon to the stage. Now onto their sixth release Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, the band performed fifteen songs that captivated the audience to dance and sing along. With a full band (and a jazz band to boot) full of energy, lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel has a hoarse but soothing voice that mesmerizes the fans and fits the songs perfectly. It’s worth pointing out that this band produces albums that don’t have any filler-songs, and their live set is much the same. Each song builds upon another and the band doesn’t even stop for an encore. The set ended with their hit song of 2007 and Indie 103.1’s current #1 song “Underdog”. A good choice for the last song, although fans were dismayed to find no encore for the show, but why have one if you are already ending with a high note like that?
FOR EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW, CLICK HERE
Photo Credit: Pamela Lin
The show started with a cozy atmosphere as the audience swayed to the music of LA band Sea Wolf. Playing songs off their EP and album, the band got the show going with a great start. Lead singer and guitarist Alex Brown Church leads with his deep raspy voice which is comforting, folky, and mellow. They even gave their set a Christmas feel with some holiday tunes. When hit song “You’re a Wolf” came on, the audience cheered and sang along in good spirits.
Next on the line up and storming in from the freezing cold of Norway were Datarock in their matching red jump suits. This electro-indie-pop band definitely got the party started with their lively, chaotic, and energetic songs. Fredrik Saroea and Ket-ill lead the band with guitars, drums, percussions, keyboards, and a saxophone while jumping around like a rock aerobics video. The height of their set had to be when they performed “FaFaFa” with the audience grooving and singing to the chorus of this catchy melodic tune. Some bands start off slow and end with a bang, but with Datarock it was just one big adrenaline rush after another. The band ended their set with “The Time of our Lives” from Dirty Dancing which completely encapsulated their show with a warm fuzzy feeling.
Third on the list of exciting bands was Pinback. This indie rock collective hails from the sunny world of San Diego. With hearts still racing from the previous band, Pinback’s performance felt a little more mellow and downtempo. However, the band still put on a good show with catchy rock riffs from songs off their new album Autumn of the Seraphs, and older albums like Summer in Abaddon. The band started the show with “Bouquet” off their newest release and ended their set with the audience voting for “A.F.K”.
Saving the best for last, the hosting DJ from Indie 103.1 announced that the toy drive was a success with collection boxes full of wrapped goodies and presented Austin, Texas rockers Spoon to the stage. Now onto their sixth release Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, the band performed fifteen songs that captivated the audience to dance and sing along. With a full band (and a jazz band to boot) full of energy, lead singer/guitarist Britt Daniel has a hoarse but soothing voice that mesmerizes the fans and fits the songs perfectly. It’s worth pointing out that this band produces albums that don’t have any filler-songs, and their live set is much the same. Each song builds upon another and the band doesn’t even stop for an encore. The set ended with their hit song of 2007 and Indie 103.1’s current #1 song “Underdog”. A good choice for the last song, although fans were dismayed to find no encore for the show, but why have one if you are already ending with a high note like that?
FOR EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS FROM THE SHOW, CLICK HERE
Photo Credit: Pamela Lin