Live MP3s / Photos: Celebration at Load of Fun

I am very excited to present you with some pretty extensive coverage of what was one of the best sets I've witnessed all year. Celebration headlined Load of Fun last Thursday night, capping off a ridiculously enjoyable evening that included a great set from Videohippos and a hauntingly awesome performance by Indian Jewelery.

Celebration's Electric Tarot concept has been an ongoing success, and based off the new material played last week, it's only going to get better. With much thanks to David Carter, you can hear the new and yet-to-be recorded material along with the rest of the entire set after the click.

With only a handful of tracks played off their two proper LPs, the Earth installment of the series truly highlighted the direction the band is heading in. There were four brand new songs played, none of which are even posted to their site as of yet. All four were absolutely stunning in their own right, drawing from a variety of past journey's that have aided in cementing their sound.

I've always thought of Celebration to possess some sort of atmospheric quality, and playing inside of a white cave with projections of galaxies and planets brought these opinions to life. Katrina Ford's voice bellowed illustriously, seeming to be calling mother nature to descend upon North Avenue. This was a feel-good affair all around, and my only complaint was that not enough people answered Katrina's cries to start dancing. However, I'm quite certain that everyone in attendance was dancing on the inside.

New local taper, David Carter, was kind enough to pass along the audio for this show in both MP3 and FLAC form. Valerie also took a fantastic set of photos, which can be seen on our Flikr page or in the flash gallery below. I've also included the setlist, however it was created by my listening and does not include names of the new tracks. As soon as I learn these names, I'll go ahead and update it. Have at it folks:

FLACs: http://www.filebox.com/dtbh6tauopcr
MP3s: http://www.filebox.com/q74a2ooc0nwl

Lineage: AGK 414s > Zoom h4n 48/24 > Cubase 5 > flac/mp3

Setlist:
1. Whats This Magical
2. Pressure
3. Untitled (new song)
4. I Will Not Fall
5. Shelter
6. Untitled (new song)
7. Untitled (new song)
8. Untitled (new song)
9. Heartbreak
10. Pony (encore)


Photos by Valerie

Live MP3s / Photos: Videohippos at Load of Fun

Last Thursday night, Load of Fun featured one of the better shows I've seen this year. Videohippos opened up the affair, the perfect jump start to any evening. You can see above that the usual visuals were blasting in the background, however Thursday they lit up the giant ice cave that the stage was turned into. You know when I start bringing up stages transformed into ice caves, that this one was a must see.

Luckily for those that didn't make it, you're just a click away from peeping Valerie's photo set and downloading the audio compliments of David Carter.

The projections were most certainly not the only highlight of this Videohippos set. The band performed as a new found four piece, with Benny Boeldt aka Adventure (who's birthday it happened to be) contributing his electronic wizardry and Jared Paolini on bass. The addition of these two talented musicians shined through in the spaced out electro pop jams, that frequently make it impossible to stand still to.

These guys made their sound far more organic, and beefed up the complexity and layering of their tracks. They all seemed pretty tight for their first show together as the new lineup, a sign of only moving upward as they get more reps with one another. Look for nothing but good things to come from these guys.

With much thanks to new local taper enthusiast David Carter, the full set is available sans one track due to battery issues. It sounds pretty great, and makes a good soundtrack to checking out the photo set Valerie put together below it. Have at 'em:

FLACs: http://www.filebox.com/u63i3o2mgmfp
MP3s: http://www.filebox.com/b3w6xn8y2ghd

Lineage: AGK 414s > Zoom h4n 48/24 > Cubase 5 > flac/mp3

Setlist:
1. The Fourth (missing from audio download)
2. Shadow Pups (Track 01 on download)
3. Sea Skulls (Track 02 on download)
4. Say It's Now (Track 03 on download)
5. Rifle Range (Track 04 in download)
6. Down Your Spine (Track 05 on download)


Photos by Valerie

Tonight: Celebration at Load of Fun

In a week packed with not-miss shows, this one stands above the rest. If you've caught any of Celebration's amazing local performances this year, you'd understand.

Celebration have been churning out their Baltimore Elemental Series all year long, with each show being pretty special in its own right. The series started with Fire at the Windup Space, then Whartscape was the Water installment, their outdoor show with Beach House was Wind, and tonight at Load of Fun is Earth.

This isn't just a big show for Celebration, as Videohippos have something new in store. Premiering tonight with two new members, the band is working to become more live with no prerecorded beat or melodies. Videohippos now also feature Jared Paolini, and Benny Boeldt AKA Adventure. Both new members rock pretty fantastic solo efforts, and should certainly aid in Videohippos becoming even more of a force.

The show tonight also features the psych drones of Indian Jewelery, rounding out a pretty stacked bill all around. This one will run you just $10, and doors are at 8:30.

Celebration: Video for "Shelter"

Celebration's beautiful Electric Tarot project keeps on floating along, as the new video for "Shelter" is now available. This is easily the finest visual work the project has had to offer so far. Oh yeah, and the song ain't too shabby either. Check out the video plus details on an upcoming show after the click.

"Shelter" is currently only available in the video format below, but like all the other Electric Tarot material it will be offered as a free download soon. Celebration are playing a show at the Load of Fun on October 15, with Videohippos and Indian Jewelery.