i was looking through photos recently and realized i never did a write-up on the lcd soundsystem concert at the tabernacle last october. my brother and i were pumped to see what a current lcd show was all about and gub came along since sleigh bells were opening up.

i have to say lcd soundsystem was quite impressive! they were great in the same way that broken social scene is great live. they tour with lots of musicians who are able to play all of the intricate parts of songs. plus that many live instruments, especially playing dance music, makes the experience so much better than an album can convey.

lcd opened up with dance yrself clean, which is the first song off their latest album. it was a fairly simple setup as the song built up until all of the lights and instruments came crashing in for the awesome upbeat ending. it was a great way to open a show and set the tone for a fun, dance-filled evening.

lcd soundsystem put on a great concert! they sounded amazing and had an awesome light show to go along, i’ll definitely go see them if they tour again.

sleigh bells opened up and were awesome as usual! there was lots of smoke, bright flashing lights, and extremely loud rock music! their live show was very fitting for a venue like the tabernacle. we were glad that we got to see them again.

– ryan

have you ever explored the suntrust building and surrounding areas in downtown atlanta? it’s a pretty area to walk around in case you’ve never been. the building is another design by john portman, and besides the cool architecture, there are lots of sculptures around the interior and exterior, including works by pablo picasso. there are also numerous surrounding fountains with great reflections of the downtown skyscrapers.

be sure to check out our previous posts on the americasmart building and connecting hallways.

– ryan

check out this great dairy queen drive-thru sign i saw it near the airport! i wish all dq’s had lit up cones!

– ryan

as mentioned on our blog before, john portman is a famous architect who designed many of the buildings in downtown atlanta. one such famous design is the americasmart building 3, which is home to various trade shows. the interior is quite impressive. it’s completely open with an amazing view of the many floors.

– ryan

i recently went to fat matt’s rib shack for the first time. this atlanta establishment has been on my list of bbq spots i’ve wanted to try for years. i’m not sure why i waited so long; the ribs were definitely some of the best i’ve had in town! they reminded me of maddy’s ribs, which are also some of my favorites. they were tasty, but not too saucy, and the meat fell right off the bone. i also sampled fat matt’s bbq chicken and various sides dishes, all of which were tasty as well. and although i didn’t get to eat my food there, i really enjoyed the atmosphere while i waited and would love to go back!

one quick note, i did see signs for live music pretty much every night of the week at fat matt’s. if you’re into the whole bbq and live music thing, then you’ll be way into that. but for others, like us, who actually enjoy conversing while eating bbq, then you should probably try fat matt’s for lunch or an early dinner.

– ryan

fat matt’s rib shack

1811 piedmont avenue ne
atlanta, ga 30324
404-607-1622

yesterday morning was super foggy. downtown atlanta was pretty as the skyscrapers tried to peak out from behind the haze.

– ryan

broken social scene was amazing at the buckhead theatre on thursday! after a recent dull evening seeing yo la tengo, i was ready for one of my favorite bands to rock it out, and they did. for over two hours broken social scene played a perfect mix of hits from forgiveness rocks (their most recent), you forgot it in people and their s/t. they even played a song from kevin drew’s solo effort sprit if! my highlights were kc accidental, anthem for a 17 year-old, and ibi dreams of pavement. here’s the setlist.

in case you haven’t seen them before, broken social scene is a band you should definitely check out in concert. i think they are better live than on album, and i love their albums. they tour with a large group of rotating musicians, including numerous people on guitars, percussion, drums, horns, keyboard and more. that many live instruments creates their unique anthem-rock sound that is quite amazing in concert, and hard to mimic on an album. it’s a similar experience to a live arcade fire show.

another note, even though the big-named female singers (see feist, emily haines/metric, amy millan/stars) don’t tour with broken social scene anymore, their shows are still totally fun and worth checking out! go see them if you can.

– ryan

we went to the georgia aquarium for the first time recently. we had a great time exploring the various sea creatures. i’m sure we will be back a lot more when we the little one arrives.

check out our youtube page for other videos as well.

– ryan

the highs can be high, but the lows can also be low at a yo la tengo show. in case you haven’t been to a recent concert of theirs, they bring out a wheel featuring different options for them to play. an audience member spins the wheel and whatever it lands on is the bands first set. the options include: songs that start with s, the name game (songs with names in the title), freewheeling (their vh1 storytellers type setup), as well as sets from their alter ego bands and the score to the sounds of the sounds of science. after an intermission, they play a second set of their hits.

all sounds great on paper.

after first landing on spin again, the lucky atlanta contestant landed on spinner’s choice at the recent variety playhouse concert. i totally thought i was in for a classic yo la tengo show, i mean, how could this go wrong? well, this particular fan chose the second half of the sounds of the sounds of science and things got boring quickly. i couldn’t believe when given the option of hearing a set of classic yo la tengo songs, someone would pick the second half of a score to an underwater science documentary. don’t get me wrong, the score is great, but such drony instrumental music has its time and place.

after 45 minutes of the film score and another 40-minute intermission, i was not very pumped about the show anymore. although they did open up the second set with autumn sweater and let’s save tony orlando’s house, waiting that long to hear actual yo la tengo songs was definitely an evening spoiler.

i will think twice about going to another concert where a wheel determines my potential for fun.

– ryan

we grabbed some sweets for a gathering today from sublime doughnuts! you can find this great local doughnut shop on 10th st near georgia tech on the westside. they always have a ton of unique flavored treats you won’t find at any doughnut chain. today we went with fresh strawberry ‘n cream, reese’s peanut butter cup, butter toffee with caramel chocolate, orange cream star, gnutella, and caramel apple fritter. they were some of the best doughnuts we have ever had!

for some amazing doughnuts you will be thinking about for days, definitely try out sublime doughnuts!

– ryan & gub

sublime doughnuts

535 10th st nw
atlanta, ga 30318
404-897-1801