Taylor Hawkins Showing His Skills

Telling from the number of people at the main stage of the Melkweg many people either don't know Taylor Hawkins or are not interested in seeing him play with his Coattail Riders. Or may not like his music. Around 100 people did want to see the Foo Fighters drummer playing with his own band. I was a bit worried because of their latest album which isn't too great. Because of the few people I could get up real close to his nice sparkle finish drum kit with the hawk on the front.

Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders at Melkweg Amsterdam, Wednesday June 2 2010 (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)

The back of the stage holds the same image as the new album's cover. The rest of the stage holds the musician's instruments and that's it. They like to keep it small and simple so much is clear. They kick off the show with the album's opening track 'Not Bad Luck'. It sounds so much better than on the album. The song gets a lot more body and the harmonies sound normal. This will be typical for the rest of the songs. They all sound better live. The Coattail Riders show they are skilled musicians and seem to be enjoying themselves. Hawkins himself is relaxed and keeps telling how thankful he is that we are showing up. He looks like a really down to earth and likable person which is admirable for someone who's playing in one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

Hakwins isn't a great singer. His vocal range is limited although he does have a pleasant voice. He doesn't have a lot of power and it sure isn't helpful that the vocals aren't loud enough in the mix. But in the end his drum skills are stealing the show. The drum kit is positioned at the front of the stage like all musicians. When he's playing his face is showing his usual restrained look. You can see he is used to playing big arena's by the powerful way he's hitting his kit. Still it's all very tasteful. The way he can combine drums and vocals is impressive since some drum parts are kind of progrock and are pretty complicated. He even makes one of my favourite songs from the first album 'Get Up I Want To Get Down' look like a piece of cake. They end in style with a great version of 'Way Down' which is the best song on the album.



Although the album may not be too great Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail riders show that they can put down a good rock show. They are obviously enjoying themselves a lot and this tour is probably like a big vacation to them. What a way to see something of the world and earn a bit of drinking money on the side. See you at Rock Werchter guys!
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LCD Soundsystem closes off in style

LCD Soundsystem - This Is Happening (Ronald Says 8 out of 10)

According to James Murphy this third LCD Soundsystem album is the last one. He stated that he doesn't like the superstar status but I'm pretty sure he will show up again in one way or the other with a new project. After the success of the highly acclaimed 'Sound of Silver' it must have been quite hard to come up with an album that could top that. And to be honest this album can't. But again it's a good album with plenty to enjoy although it cannot meet the brilliance of the previous master piece. At least Murphy leaves us in style. Read more!

Taylor Hawkins Just Having Fun

Best known as the drummer of Foo Fighters, Taylor Hawkins is using their sabbatical to play with his own band Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders. They released their self-titled debut a few years ago which was the result of them having fun and jamming together. Now they release their second album 'Red Light Fever' that looks like a more serious attempt.

Taylor Hawkins & The Coattail Riders - Red Light Fever (Ronald Says 6 out of 10)
Hawkins has proven to be a skilled drum player with the Foo Fighters where he has the difficult task of playing drums with Dave Grohl who I consider to be one of the best rock drummers around. And he's doing a good job at it. Now they have taken a break and Grohl is having fun with Them Crooked Vultures Hawkins is playing with his hobby band again. But it looks like he means serious business with it: he found heavy weight musicians Roger Taylor and Brian May to guest star on the album and also Dave Grohl is helping his band mate out. This time they have spent more time producing the album and it's promoted more heavily than their debut. They are even on a small tour and recently crossed the pond to play over here in Europe.

So does all the work pay off? Not really. Although you can hear where it's all coming from (Hawkins said it was like "me having sex with my record collection"): classic rock mixed with Foo Fighters and also not surprisingly Queen since he has always named them to be one of his major influences. But where the first album was a more spontaneous result of their jam sessions, this album is trying to go beyond that and causes it to sound more forced. Harmonies sometimes sound more like Alvin and The Chipmunks or Queen on speed (album opener 'Bad Luck'). Hawkins isn't a great singer but still has a pleasant voice to listen to. And then most of the songs sound like they aren't finished yet and are too full of ideas.

It isn't all that bad since the album has some good songs (album opener 'Bad Luck' and 'Your Shoes' for instance) as well. It all does sound like they had great fun at it but you never get the idea that it is supposed to be more than that. And of course Hawkins still put down some great drum grooves on the album (like in 'Never Enough') and with the help of those brilliant guests there's still much to enjoy. Especially fans of classic rock probably will have lots of fun listening to the record.

Hopefully they will display all that fun this Wednesday when I go to see them in the Melkweg and make the songs sound better live on stage.
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