Dave Chappelle LIVE at Mezzanine!!!!

Thank you, Dave Chappelle, for the way you do the things you do...

Bow Wow Wow Yippee Yo Yippee Yay!!!

W-O-W!!!!

WHAT. A. PARTY.

That was one of the BEST live shows EVER, no exaggeration!!!

A few glimpses of two classics...





God Bless Snoop Dogg.

fo rizzle.

and fo shizzle.

WIn a chance to MEET DEERHUNTER!!!

Deerhunter > SF > Tuesday > February 24th > Mezzanine

And
Guess
What??!?!?

WIN A CHANCE TO MEET THE BAND BEFORE THEIR SOLD-OUT SHOW!!!!

All you have to do is email us the ONE QUESTION you've been wanting to ask the band!!

The only pre-requisite: you must be over 21 years of age.

Ready. Set. GO!

info@mezzaninesf.com

...and here's an mp3 to top it all off!

Deerhunter - Little Children

Let me Tellier all about it

It’s not hard to expect Sebastien Tellier will assist you in getting tail. And I’m not saying it's for the first time in a long dry spell, I’m talking about being laid for the next 72 hours. I’m talking about dusting off the record player and closing the blinds for a few days. I’m talking about phenomenal neon cosmic orgasms and body melds like you’re fucking in a waffle-maker.

Mezzanine played host to the beginning of my Sexuality-inspired weekend with a man that is personified by the essence of pillowtalk foreplay and 80’s soft touch porno-pop-sex. As I slowly unzipped and opened myself up to new things, I heard men croon more than women, experienced wasted 20-something hipsters overexaggerate their relationship insecurities with “just pull out” inhibitions, all the while watching Mezzanine turn into a French bisexual disco Jacuzzi cootie party.



I don’t speak the French language, but I’ve always secretly wanted to be French. Screw Sylvester the Skunk, I’m the pastel blazer-wearing, true school electroblazing, Filipino version of Don Johnson from Miami Vice…but I’d have a Tagalog/French accent - find me as the token bad guy in the next Bond movie.

The song that really hit the G-spot at the Mezz show was “Kilometer” - filtered Korg synths missionary-style over Miami callgirl sex moans is WAY more amazing than His & Her KY Jelly.

Don’t get me wrong, the beard and Jesus locks make Tellier looks like The Dude or Tommie Sunshine; not so much the ideal “take me home cause I’m naughty type.” But game recognizes game, and even though Jenz thinks I’m lothario, Tellier's solar-shield sunglasses and charming French tickler persona gave me lockjaw. During track “L’amour et la violence,” I swear it felt like I was in the middle of a Power Exchange orgy. If you’ve ever been into American Apparel, where Tellier has his own line of V-neck hipster sex shirts, then you know what I’m talking about.

I’ve had Sexuality ebbing from my apartment since I got home Thursday night, and I’m sure I’ll be getting noise complaints from the landlord about how much my bed squeaks. The only time I saw the sun was when I turned on the weather channel to try and drown out my own verses to “Une Heure.”


Show review by Ryan Rosario

Photo thru Google

In his Relm

DJs are a lot more creative than people give them credit for. The shitty ones, of course, stand there and just pretend to do something (a la celebrities who think throwing on an iPod and hitting "shuffle" is sufficient). The more advanced use vinyl, mashups, stage antics and beer to make their sets stand out.

City native Mike Relm decided to go down the latter route while also throwing down his mixing skills live, in time, to video screens looming behind him on Friday night. Not a bad idea for one with nimble fingers.

I'll admit it is sort of odd to stand there and watch someone behind a turntable. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to dance or observe, but I was glad I did both. One of the things I like about Relm is that he seems to be and practice being a pretty cool guy, which includes intersplices footage of movies, videos, and random shit alongside his scratching; the infamous "O" face video did make an appearance as well as some homemade short films Relm did, communicating with audience via a tablet of paper and nothing else.

The dude definitely knows to mix; we heard some 90s grunge with some Ladytron, some hip-hop followed by indie, all done live in tune with the video images flashing around. Relm also dropped new single from his new album Spectacle called "Everytime" with the video he directed behind it. The slow-motion stop imagery, going backwards, and shot in a gorgeous black and white feel made it a neat watch.



Thanks for being a cool guy, Mr. Relm.


Photos by Kapshure/Berderp

SHOTS OF AWESOME :: Q-Tip

The gospel of Q-Tip, as caught by Kapshure at the R2K Sports Bounce tour.

"Sleeper Hits," by Ryan Rosario

Ryan Rosario reports on Saturday's Dirtybird show:

--
After a serious herbal detox (not the drinking kind) from last Thursday night’s waxing, I plowed through for Saturday’s storm to catch Claude VonStroke and Switch blowout some bassbins. I’ve been a Dirtybird and Dubsided fanatic for a good minute, so my expectations of the show were that of a die-hard, dance-harder fan. I loaded my copper-colored Shuffle with all the songs that make me fidget, wobble, techno-juke, blip-slide, and ghetto-tech in anticipation of the night.

[VonStroke picture by Kapshure]

Now, I don’t know how many of you have been to a Dirtybird party in Golden Gate Park, or their occasional Friday night at Shine, but these guys bring it like a Benadryl and Vodka Red Bull uppercut in the gut. Techno squirrel squeaking on top of deep house baselines and sodapop drums at 130 bpm’s would make everyone from candy-ravers to hyphy soldiers bob their heads and tap their feet. Then there’s Switch, aka Dave Taylor, aka one half of Solid Groove, aka one half of Induceve, aka Modeler, aka shall I keep geekin’ out!?!

Nevertheless, Switch’s remix catalog is equally rivaled by his original production work with artists like Santogold, M.I.A., Diplo, Crookers, and fellow Dubsiders Jesse Rose, Sinden, Herve, and Trevor Loveys - all of which have been in SF over the past four months with the exception of Herve , who is yet to cross the pond.

By the time I reached the Powell MUNI station, the diphenhydramine and highball combo I consumed before leaving turned my reality into the music video for "Pest - Pat Pong (Solid Groove Remix)" as it was playin’ in my headphones. I walked into Mezzanine feeling like a wet dog on acid while anxiously anticipating the physical warmth from other bodies dancing the rain away.

One year ago today

This hotness graced our stage:


WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, PATRICK WOLF? I miss your face. And you subliminally humping shit. And even when you fight with Mika.

Photo courtesy of aidenbordner.

Lasers! Yay!

MSTRKRFT last week in between strobing, taken by Kapshure over at Berderp. Sexy mouth on the monitor, no?

"MSTRKRFT - They're Safer Than Bees" by William Oliver Hart

We sent our good friend Will over to witness some lasers last week, and here is what he had to say.

There's plenty of things that want to kill you in 2008; terrorists, bored children, bees, the Chipotle Chicken Ciabatta sandwich at Jack-N-The-Box, that Black Hole Machine thing in Switzerland. MSTRKRFT don't want to kill you though. Thus begins my first blog for Mezzanine, entitled "MSTRKRFT - They're Safer Than Bees." I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this on the back of a paper plate at Fuddrucker's and giving it to my girlfriend to transcribe.

Seeing that I quit my job, I saw MSTRKRFT mid-week. Really, what else am I gonna do with my free time? Get kicked out of the library some more? Please. Annnyways, the two opening DJs, Congorock and Felix Cartel, both subscribed to the same vague aesthetic of EVERY SOUND EVAR (car alarms, sirens, the cries of hungry babies) that has the potential to be the crux of some hardcore booty-quaking dance anthem. This, like anything else cool, kind of requires a sort of Kirkegaardian leap of faith to appreciate.

When MSTRKRFT hit the stage around midnight-ish, it was totally satanic panic. Do you think you like lasers? MSTRKRFT like lasers at least 5,000 times more than you. MSTRKRFT sounds like lasers. Okay, imagine Xanadu plus rave-action, divided by American Apparel, times epilepsy, and you might have an idea what the MSTRKRFT experience entails. Let's just say I'm pretty sure that the people that decided not to gorge themselves on Dimethyltryptamine before the show felt pretty solid about their decision. It could've been a bad scene. Not surprisingly, these brosephs' mastery of iconography probably rivals their oft-cited peers Justice, but it's not exactly surprising, seeing that a KRFTR himself, Jesse Keeler, cut his teeth with Death From Above 1979, a short-lived band whose music is wholly forgettable but whose striking elephant-schnoz imagery from their first CD is forever burned into my brain. Oh, and I think they had some sort of semi-epic beef with DFA stalwart Jamie Stewart 3 years ago. I remember thinking, "This could be a dance-punk Jay-Z versus Nas." But alas, no cool dis songs were produced. We all lost.

Wait - what was I talking about? Ah, right.

There is a sort of hamfisted horror show schlock to MSTRKRFT's presentation, from the Jason mask imagery to the blatantly metal (re: verging on illegible) font that proudly adorns a grip of their new merch. Their face-melting brand of electro strum und drang is offset perfectly by videos of explosions, fire, guns, and boobs, a display that is artsier than I'm letting on, and that I can assure you is supposed to be postmodern. But like their music, it works just as well (if not better) on a very superficial level: it's all icing, all the time. Subtlety is cruel mistress. These guys probably get super pissed when they're bored. I've never heard MSTRKRFT outside of a live setting, and I can't help to feel that you'd be missing the point if you just listened to them otherwise. Omygaw, I just noticed we have a Pitchfork link. Seriously, guys?

Who are you people?

Making the dance floor shake under my feetsies and having a raucous time at 12:30 in the A.M. on God's day...

Shame on you.

But seriously, how fucking phenomenal was last night's show? I swear to God I'm gonna marry an Australian. In Ghost Colors is one of my favorite albums of this year, and Cut Copy killed it. Haters aside, beezy. Plus, I think my ears are still ringing from The Presets' bass-heavy, drum-drooling "My People." How do two dudes make so much noise between them?

Let's not even talk about how ____ Heartbreak was. I'm still recovering.

More commentary to follow, but here are some snaps we found over on Flickr:

From MakeYouSick:
The Presets

Cut Copy

From Ario:
Cut Copy

I was standing about here, and the sound still was seamless. Bravo, dear Aussies.

Partying with hippies and bowlers is actually more fun than you think

Herro! I'm back, lovelies. Apologies that it's been a bit quiet around the Mezzy bloggy, I stalked some band for a while and just am now over my birthday hangover. Will you take me back?

Of course you will. You need a drinking buddy.

So! Saturday! Power to the Peaceful afterparty! I knew I should have eaten that special truffle before I went over. But seriously, even though I was one of the few people who'd actually washed their hair that morning, I was really pleased to see everyone having a wonderful time. I saw lots of people hugging, dancing, drinking, and trying to touch those blown-up balloon creatures that were perched on the rafters. And while I can't say I have a full discography on reggae and jamband music, I was also pleasantly surprised to really like Michael Franti's Spearhead and All-Star Jam Band - I just couldn't do the 19-minute guitar solos. I felt like partying and falling asleep simutaneously.

Kinda hilarious that the night before was the big Lebowski party, no? I wonder if the bar staff ran out of White Russian ingredients. There would have been mutiny.

Anyway, if you have any pictures, stories, love letters, or snips to gripe with me on, send 'em my way to jenz.mezzanine@gmail.com. There's lots in store in the next few weeks on the blog...keep your eyes peeled for free stuff (yeah, I said it).

The Human League is still, well...human + Hey British guy, way to be lame

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the dude of THL still sounds excellent live. And although I completely was the youngest person in attendance at Mezzanine Saturday (seriously...), I will always love "Human" unconditionally because it sounds like a love song and dancefloor anthem mashed together accidentally, and it was so completely perfect that it was the song that played as I walked up.

Iconic gems like "Don't You Want Me Baby" and "Fascination" also still are superb in all its synthpopnuwavetastic glory. And although the lineup as changed throughout the years and the art of the blips of synth has evolved, the Human League still showed me that my The Ladytrontatat Faints Chip would not exist without them. Plus, blonde backup singer Sharon was so fucking sassy with her sequined dress, I wanted to put her in my pocket.

But the highlight of the night was at the bar; being hungover as hell from the previous night, my friend Vroo and I ordered orange juices to sip on as we took a break from the dancing that started after The Human League took off. We got approached by a tall Brit in a suit who began working out his lines, and as I was trying to politely tell him we weren't interested ("Hey...it's a valiant effort, man, but no thanks"), he insisted he was actually trying to set us up to get to meet his friend. Having never been subjected to a wingman scenario, my interest was piqued and I nodded to have him bring his (presumably hotter) friend over.

"No, really! He's very cool, I think you'll like him. Be right back," he insisted. The Brit then grabbed Vroo and I's shoulders to face the wall, and we waited in silence side by side before we were tapped on the back to pivot around.

It was the same guy.

And I couldn't help but laugh.

Hysterically.

The Brit looked mad hurt, and leaned in between us with his arms around us as his face fell rapidly.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I asked as I wiped tears away. "That was the worst set-up ever, dude."

"What's your comeback?" Vroo inquired.

The Brit seriously stood there for about 15 seconds and then said, "I don't have one."

Burn!

Maybe he listened to "Human" too many times...

SHOTS OF AWESOME :: Dizzee Rascal

Admittedly when I stepped into Mezz on Friday, all I knew from Dizzee was this song, which I used to pretend to know all the words to while dancing in my undies at an old apartment (you clap along to the heavy drums, and tell try telling me that shit is not addicting).

Thankfully, Dizz was better outfitted in much classier threads than my Hanes when I saw him, and laid down some pretty impressive rhymes to boot. I was really into the grime thing initially with The Streets, but considering the heyday for it was back in 2004 and Dizzee still has stuck around, I bow down to this East London native for still bringing the noise.

Also, he even gained a #1 spot in the U.K. recently with a song called "Dance With Me" that he did with my Scottish boyfriend Calvin Harris - it's a more dancepop feel with Calv's synth working to compliment his rapping skillz. That takes some talent, people. Additionally, the first 15 seconds of the video features some pretty scantily-clad booty (literally) and lots of the color gold, which is always fun for the whole family.

(Mr. Harris will be making his way out to San Francisco in October at our very own establishment...his hotness needs his own post though, so that will come later.)

For now, enjoy pretty pictures!

Photos by Christine Peterson:

SHOTS OF AWESOME :: Wyclef Jean

Some good friends of ours shot some incredible photos from Wednesday's Wyclef Jean show. I'll be sure to take some Allegra in plenty of time to witness this guy next time.

Christine Peterson:

Jeff Luger:

Do you have any from this night? Send 'em my way!: jenz.mezzanine@gmail.com.

Wait...WHAT?!?!??!?!

Did everyone else but me already know that Nomi from Hercules and Love Affair was actually...special?


Regardless of biological boxes, the woman could have been an alien for all I'd known, and it wouldn't change the fact that she has some fierce pipes on her. She totally gave Antony a run for his money during "Blind," and I still danced my tail off. But, hmm...my sexuality is all confused now. And I keep thinking of this, which has absolutely no correlation whatsoever, but is still pretty entertaining. Oh, crazy Elizabeth Berkeley.

Also, apparently I was skipped over for the memo on Saturday's show, as I did not show up in or having any of the following:

• Glitter
• Sequins
• Anything that got attacked by a BeDazzler
• Feathers
• Hot pants

I did dance with my hot gay friend Kevin, so I had one accessory at least. The trouble with shows like H&LA where I have no idea they have a huge homo following is that I ended up walking in and being subjected to a huge sausage fest, and I can't have any of it. There ain't nothing worse than a straight girl surrounded by beautiful men she cannot have. Trust me on this.

Anyway, I was really pleasantly surprised that live Hercules brought it, especially with the beautiful brass section and a great percussion with both live kits and a loop. And though it did sort of feel like disco almost made a comeback, Herc showed that a fresh spin on a beloved era in music can be successful.

That lingering sweat that rained on the main dancefloor was not cute, though. Reminder for air conditioning, stat.

Tracksuits, wave of the future?

Datarock has some mad redness going on. I wrote about their antics over at The Tripwire, which you can peep at below if you feel so inclined. In a Spin interview last year they mentioned that their main goal in life was to get everyone to don the same threads as them; me thinks global domination via comfy apparel is spot on.

Christine over at aestheta photography snagged some stills from the show as well; check it out!

--

Live - Datarock @ Mezzanine | SF

Here is my first beef with Norway's Datarock: dressing in frickin' red track suits means I think you're gonna delve into some grime or potentially a phat MC battle, not that you're gonna bust out an electro jam about girls with phantom penises or jump around on stage like a bunch of lunatics. (more...)

That girl is a baaaaaaaaad girl

How did everyone like the Wyclef show last night? Boss? Bad? Drunk? I wasn't able to make it out as I suffered a huge allergy attack when I got home (damn you weather change), and I'm bummed I missed the opening act Kardinal Offishall cos I superlove this jam:



Sigh. Next time.