The Wemmer Live @ Circle A!!!

September 16, 2012.  Milwaukee WI:

Kick-ass fresh Punk Rock sprawling from Shizuoka City, Japan is The Wemmer.  What better Midwest punk joint could they have picked out on their first USA tour than Circle A?

The band consisted of a Bassist/singer, a wildly energetic drummer/singer and a gnarly guitar shredder, all having positively loose and smiley raw danceable chemistry.

Their lead singer/bassist's voice is beautifully sexy and free, seemingly out of tune but perfect and beyond pleasing.

The guitarist had a wide range of riffs in each song that showed his true love for Rock 'N' Roll.

(Found Photo the Wemmer)

In a loin cloth was the drummer, who performs as a maniac!  Totally wild and fun, fast and complex.  Somewhere in the middle of their set he spurted off his drum set, ran into the audience, grabbed a bar stool, jumped on it, stood on it for about 5 minutes shouting chants in half japanese and half english, which the audience struggled to but excitedly chanted along with.  At one moment while he was completely rocking out, I caught eye contact with him for a brief second and he blew me a kiss! Pure magic if you ask me!

They made it clear that they don't speak good english by yelling in-between several songs "WE   NO SPEAK ENGLISH!" Although they had some songs with moments of english lyrics and phrases such as "I CANT GET NO SATISFACTION!" and "Yeah you are stupid! But i like you! Shake shake shake shake! ROCK 'N' ROLL!!!"

The band could have easily shared a bill with The Minutemen, Les Wampas, The Make-Up, MC5, or any other fun and fast punk bands like that.  I was surprised when after the show i asked them what their favorite bands were and they replied "AC/DC and Led Zepplin." However, when i asked them if they knew Shinji Masuko of The Boredoms they got very excited and said "Yes, yes, Shinji Masuko vedy vedy good!!"

The Wemmer turned everyone on so well that they even played an encore, which has been rare to my eyes seeing an encore at a small punk venue!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jm6akdhiaSw&feature=related

*this video link shows the drummer i saw as the lead singer with a different drummer, thus their band perhaps has a shifting lineup.  *

Amidou & Mariam

Live @ the Santa Monica Pier

August 16 2012

In Los Angeles I got the opportunity to go down to the Santa Monica Pier for their 28th Annual Twilight Concert Series, which are free concerts weekly, and I got to see the almighty Amidou & Miriam on the edge of the Pacific Ocean.

The couple came out decked in gold attire, both having gold rimmed sunglasses and jewelry as well as Amidou’s legendary gold Telecaster guitar, showing the status of their success.

(Photo not by me but from same show)

A. & M. had a full backing band to accompany their lovely harmonizing. Amidou didn’t let down with his african-psych-out guitar playing during extended jams.  Psychedelic at times, the notes he played during the some of the instrumental parts had a way of almost shooting off his guitar into outer space then suddenly coming back into the chorus or verse.

The band seemed very happy and had huge smiles on their faces.  In between songs Amidou would shout certain words that were english, french and perhaps some other language that i didn’t know.  One repetitious thing he said sounded like “EVO, EVO,” which to me sounded both like “evil” or “evolution,” as well as other words that rambled on just long enough until the next song started.  

At times the music took on tropical elements, complementing the vibe of the ocean breeze at sunset.  Overall the rootsy band from Mali connected people together for a romantic evening at the Santa Monica Pier, keeping their selves and the audience in a plentiful dancing state.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcsP5n9UJBo

*This link is not from the show i was at but is one of my favorite songs of Amidou & Mariam*