The show was at Philly’s “Theater of the Living Arts” on South Street. TLA was an amazing venue, especially compared to the Popped! festival earlier this year. The theater was converted from an old movie house, giving it a really intimate feel. The size of the crowd was perfect, any view was excellent. The area around the venue was great as well- coming from someone who has spent no time in Philly, I’d definitely go back and hangout there.

Anyway, onto the performance. The Naked and Famous had a great energy that filled the small theater. A lot of their album is experimental and chill, but played in a live venue, I found myself getting much more into it. Female lead vocals Alisa is adorable, and I couldn’t help but smile every time I watched her.

They played a good mix of their first full album, and their earlier singles. I wasn’t as familiar with their older work, and neither was the rest of the crowd, but that didn’t keep them from enjoying the sound. The band seemed genuinely grateful for the turnout, and kept up a good mood with the crowd. “We were just kidding, we only went backstage to talk about what to play next,” joked male lead vocals Aaron, perhaps one of five things he said the entire night. Not too chatty, but just comfortable to drop in a word or two before songs, which is always a preference of mine.

Great show, great birthday present, and great venue. Here’s one of their tracks I fell in love with live, “Serenade”:

Lovely roommate and fellow lady blogger Snewman getting her Eve on.

We’d always talked about going apple picking, but my roommates and I decided to finally take the plunge on a perfect weather day.  We took the short trip over to Strawberry Acres and picked away!

We had way more apples then we knew what to do with! The farm employees suggested we use the apples for cooking, considering their bitter quality. Back at the house we cooked up some applesauce and I started to carve the pumpkin we picked up.

Finishing up my pumpkin.

I forgot how much I loved carving until I got to work on the pumpkin. It reminded me of all the Halloweens when I was little and I would give up on my pumpkin before it was even halfway done.

Snewman with the delicious applesauce.

The applesauce we made was amazing. I’m not exactly clear on the recipe, I’m pretty sure we just mushed up apples, boiled them down in water, and added a TON of sugar. Perfect.

All of us in our fall gear: Hilary, Snewman, Amalia, and Me

Apples sauce and pumpkins- I can’t imagine a better fall tradition. I also have to add a big thanks to Hilary for her photography skills! Check her photography tumblr out! Happy Harvesting!

(click through for the mix)

]]> http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/fall/feed/ 0 emmadiehl 69338_166097166751114_100000524952052_458789_7659124_n http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/popped-friday-and-saturday/ http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/2011/09/26/popped-friday-and-saturday/#comments Mon, 26 Sep 2011 23:01:42 +0000 emmadiehl http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/?p=395 ]]> So, now that I can finally hear again, here’s my take on Philadelphia’s Popped! music festival.

Because of the rain , the show was moved from FDR park to the Liacouras Center on Temple’s campus. That whole change was really unfortunate, since it moved the show onto a single stage as opposed to three different stages. But, rain or shine, Hannah and I weren’t missing this. Here’s my rundown of the two-day show.

Friday Highlights:

• Hannah and I arrived just in time to hear Miniature Tigers’ final song; a major bummer considering they’re one of our favorite bands. They sounded great for that one song though…
• A big surprise was Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. I’ve heard of them before, but never really listened to them. The name’s a handful, but they were a lot of fun. They came out with glow in the dark jackets and minimal but fun set pieces. My favorites of the set were “Vocal Chords” and “We Almost Lost Detroit”.
• I feel in LOVE with Company of Thieves. Lead singer Genevieve Schatz is adorable and brought so much energy to the stage. There was a large group of fans in the crowd- surprising considering how early in the day they were.
• This is where the day took a turn for the worse. If the show had been outside, I would’ve been able to travel to other stages and experience other bands. But, since it was inside, I was forced to listen to the single stage. The Hold Steady, Panda Bear, and Elbow were all such different bands, and I really had no interest in any of them. Friday was much less cohesive in terms of genre of music, and I think they lost a lot of the crowd that way. Needless to say, the next few hours were pretty boring for me.
• Cage the Elephant was a big surprise. I was familiar with some of their music, but I wasn’t anticipating a HUGE mosh pit during their set. They rocked this grunge style I wasn’t expecting, in the first half of the set, the lead singer jumped into the crowd twice. I liked the energy, and the music… I just didn’t like getting kicked in the head by crowd surfers.

• My main goal of the day was to see The Shins. I’ve been an avid listener of The Shins since middle school, and seeing them has always been a plan of mine. They did not disappoint. For being such a popular group, I loved the humble, laid back attitude they had, they weren’t showing off or talking too much, they were just bringing the crowd the music they loved. They even played a few tracks from the new unreleased  album, which sounds pretty awesome.

Saturday Highlights:

• Saturday was a very different crowd from Friday- a lot more college-aged students rather than city hipsters. Within 30minutes of being in the venue, I had seen two different overly intoxicated college girls puking in the crowd.

• Hannah and I pushed out way to the front for internet sensation Kreayshawn. She was everything that I was expecting her to be, meaning she was absolutely insane. People criticize her, but she’s a character. She has a style that’s all her own, and I’m all for that in a music industry that’s overflowing with generic artists.
• Foster the People came next, and I was not at all disappointed by their set. I’ve written about them before, and they were one of the bands I was most excited to see. Before seeing them live, I hadn’t noticed how percussion-oriented they were. Members of the band took turns banging on a separate set of drums in the middle of the stage. While almost shy, the band got a great reaction from the crowd. The only complaint I have is that the set wasn’t long enough. That, and their photo policy- security wasn’t allowing us to take pictures, and professional photographers were only permitted something like the first 30 seconds of the first three songs. I managed to snap one decent-ish pic. 
• Next was my self-confessed obsession, Girl Talk. This was my seventh time seeing the mash-up artist. A lot of people would claim he doesn’t really make music, but I see him a true artist. Each show is a little different, depending on what city you see him in. When he plays Pittsburgh, he makes sure to incorporate “Black and Yellow”. At Popped, he included Foster the People and Kreyshawn in his mash-ups. This was also Girl Talk’s first show using pyrotechnics, a surprising but fun addition to the show.

Pretty Lights ended the whole festival, and the performance is really in the name. The music is awesome, but the light show is hypnotizing. I’m not that familiar with Pretty Lights, but being in a crowd that enthusiastic makes it so much more fun. By the end of the show my feet were sore, ears were ringing, and I couldn’t get the smile off my face.

Bottom line: Popped did the best with what they could. The weather sucked, but they made the best of the situation by moving the show inside. The eclectic mix of artists drew a diverse crowd. I’d be down to go next year, fingers crossed there will be less rain.

I’m a total sucker for advertising, the images paired with Charles Bukowski’s “The Laughing Heart”, but this latest campaign is getting some bad press. According to Forbes, the ads have been pulled in the UK due to the brief footage including riots… Not the best timing Levi’s.

Hannah and I are meeting up for the 2-Day festival, for both of us it’ll be our first time there.

I can’t decide on another. Check out his shop and tell me what you think.

What they sound like: Passion Pit after puberty borrowing guitar riffs from Ratatat and choruses from MGMT

Popular Track: “Pumped Up Kicks”

My Favorite Track: “Warrant”

Listen to them when: You’re at the beach (which I never am) or a BBQ.

Makes me feel like: Learning to long board.

They look like great live performers, can’t wait to see them when they play Pittsburgh in August!

]]> http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/what-im-listening-to-foster-the-people/feed/ 1 emmadiehl http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/tourist-in-my-own-hometown/ http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/tourist-in-my-own-hometown/#comments Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:02:43 +0000 emmadiehl http://poorcoordination.wordpress.com/?p=375 ]]> In the past month, I’ve tricked convinced friends from school and family members to come visit Pittsburgh. “PRIMANTI’S! STEELERS!” I yell at them and then try to confuse them until they’ve promised to come see me in what I believe is one of the greatest cities ever.

So they get here, and the question is “What do I actually do with them?“. I can stuff them with delicious food, but I’ve discovered no one can consume as many meals as me. So then, I have to come up with other activities, and one of the best so far has been Kayaking downtown.

Kayak Pittsburgh rents tandem and single Kayaks out literally right under PNC park. I spent Sunday afternoon with some tourist and local friends exploring the city from a new point of view.

We had an interesting view of the Pirates/Red Sox game from the water, it was fun to see the fans who dock their boats on the North Shore for the game.

Aside from being terrified of getting hit by a coal barge or party boat, it was a great way to spend the afternoon. I recommend the tandem Kayak, but only if your partner pulls some of the weight and paddles as well and doesn’t sit back there and yawn…

I didn’t think Bon Iver could create another album that I would love as much as For Emma, Forever Ago, but they surpassed all my expectations. While their first album was winter, I found the tone of Bon Iver to be warmer and more diverse. While it is slow, I definitely see myself listening to this on a quiet summer day. It has a bit more country twang to it, and this jazz horn sound I would find cheesy if it weren’t executed so well. If you’re new to Bon Iver, here’s the rundown:

What they sound like: Band of Horses experimenting with Arcade Fire

Popular Track: “Skinny Love”

My Favorite Track (off the new album): “Towers”

Listen to them when: The sun is going down and the day is winding down

Makes me feel like: Driving around aimlessly so I can listen to the album longer.

Here’s an amazing live video of an old favorite (via LaBlogotheque)