Sweet Death

The Killers
Tegan and Sara
RIMAC ~ San Diego, CA
04/12/05


Canada's latest sweethearts opened for The Killers Tuesday night at RIMAC Arena on theUCSD campus playing to a sold out crowd. The fans were a mixed up combination of rockers, students of all grades, parents, and music lovers. Some being all of the above. Tegan and Sara gained a few fans during their opening act on the second night of The Killers tour. And the Killers proved to be everything you'd expect. Loud, rock with just a touch of glam, lots of lights and even a little Elvis. Yup, all Vegas. Their set opened with the high energy 'Jenny Was a Friend of Mine'. They played hits from their debut album 'Hot Fuss' as well as a couple new songs. Aside from the obvious crowd pleasing 'Mr. Brightside' and 'Somebody Told Me', my second fav and seemingly a crowd favorite, 'Indie Rock'n'Roll' was great.

The was energy was as high as expected and while the crowd surfing continued and the collage kids paraded, the band rocked with a well rehearsed and smooth show.

Pretty sounds in the Southland

Tristan Prettyman and The Southland
Belly Up Tavern ~ Solana Beach
04/09/05


You can never go wrong when going to a Belly Up Tavern show it seems. However, on the evening of Saturday April 9th, those odds seemed to go down as the opening act started her sing show. With obvious influences such as Ani Difranco and Jewel, the storytelling songstress Sophie wasn't quite able to grab her audience. From the looks of the crowd, she wasn't earning any new fans either. But as soon as Tristan Prettyman came on stage everyone seemed to remember why they came. her performance included old favorites as well as new song from her upcoming album due to hit stores this August. Prettyman told stories of her major label debut with Virgin Records, touring stories as well as a little love note saying that she is finally in a happy relationship.

Los Angeles based band The Southland came on stage to perform Love, Love, Love with Prettyman before she finished up her set. The Southland then returned to offer the crowd a delicious mix of OAR, Maroon5 and a little Jazz. The keys and bass held the songs together for a feel good sound, getting even some of the crowd dancing. Highlights from their set included a cover of the 1934 classic, 'i only have eyes for you' the oh-so-San-Diego appropriate 'Shining Sun' about not letting fucked up situations get to you, and my personal favorite, 'Radio' which Prettyman came out to take the female backup vocals.

A solid, fun and upbeat show from co-headliners, Tristan Prettyman and The Southland - perfect for a mild Saturday night.