Having pledged to save my money and limit the amount of shows I attend to perhaps one a month until it seems like I should start going to more, I didn't expect to have very much to add to this little blog for January.
Wrong.
SCISSORS FOR LEFTY, I THE MIGHTY
So first, there was Scissors for Lefty. Bryan very casually announced (via facebook) that, after a very long drought, show-wise, they would be playing at Bottom of the Hill the first week in January. My immediate thought was, "Oh man tell everyone to request Friday night off because we are GOING." But then I discussed the show with said everyone and we came to the (practical, boring) decision to skip this one and be responsible with our lives. I was totally at peace with this (practical, boring) decision when I went and checked my email. I'm on the Scissors for Lefty mailing list, you see, and they had sent out an email saying that the first five people to reply back would get on the guest list for the show. So of course I emailed them, saying "por favor" and all that jazz.
That night Brittany, Danielle and I went to trivia night, and then Saturn Cafe, and while at Saturn I checked my email, which said something along the lines of "sorry Jessica, you didn't make the cut.... BUT we really love you and want you to come so if you do tell the people at the merch table that Bryan has set a new t-shirt aside for you." Okay, they might not have said that they really love me. But it was implied. Anyway, I read the email out loud and Danielle was like, "we HAVE to go," and Brittany was like, "we can go after my shift," and I was like, "you will have to close fast," and it was decided that we would go.
So we left once Britt finished her shift, which was pretty quick for a Friday night, but I think we got on the road around 9 or so. And we got to Bottom of the Hill right at 10:30, which is when Scissors had said they would be going on. But as we got to the door I could hear a very distinctive voice coming through the walls, and was disheartened to see that they were already playing. So we ran up to the front and had to stand on the side of the stage, sort of in front of the bathroom and right along the walkway that everyone was using to get to the bar and back. It sort of felt like the B line Metro in Rome. Which is not a good thing.
BUT it was Scissors for Lefty and things were exciting and we started moving right away. It was an all ages show and it just seemed like there were a lot of high school kids who were either too self conscious or too sober (or both) to let themselves dance like you should for this band. I expressed my concern about the stillness of the crowd and the guy next to me was like, "they should have a thing where the floor opens up and all the people who aren't dancing fall into a pit and can't come out until the end" which was sort of a weird concept but also probably a good idea considering everything.
Anyway we sort of scooted into the front towards the last couple of songs. Bryan was a lot less engaging than usual, which probably had to do with the lameness of the crowd. But he only stepped out onto the speaker once, and he waited until the last song (which was a perfect "Mama Your Boys Will Find A Home") to come out into the crowd. I had tried to plot with the girls to stand on the left side of the floor, because it always seems like that's where he tends to wander, but it was too late for us to make our way over there. It was where Bryan headed, but we weren't there, so we missed out on most of the magic. It felt like such a short set (probably our fault for getting there late, but still) and they just didn't seem as energetic as usual, so it was sort of a let down. Plus, they were actually opening for the next band, who were called I the Mighty, because it was supposed to be I the Mighty's CD release party. BUT, when the I the Mighty dudes got up there, they explained during one of their many technical-difficulties-induced music lapses that they actually didn't have the CD ready and didn't really think they should've followed Scissors. These guys were really young and just didn't seem to have it quite together. The equipment kept failing and they didn't know how to engage the crowd in a way that would keep the whole thing moving. I think it takes awhile for bands to learn how to preserve the crowd's momentum in moments of crisis, but it's really such an important skill (see entry: COLD WAR KIDS).
I the Mighty wasn't really my kind of music, and the crowd by this point was almost completely high school kids. We embraced it though. Sometimes you just gotta rock out with it. Maybe someday they'll grow into their sound, but for now it's all a little bit awkward and predictable.
Then I went to the merch table to get my free shirt and it was SUCH a hassle. C'mon guys, get it together. The girls at the table thought I was lying, or something, and they made me wait until James the drummer came over, even though I had the email to prove that I was supposed to get a shirt. It was kind of annoying. But James was super nice about it. He is SO tall! I'm sure he gets tired of hearing about it, but seriously. He's like 7'2" or something. Part Dutch, obviously.
Anyway, the show was a little lackluster and I think our original impulse to stay home might have been a wise one. I'm hoping they were just getting their sea legs back and that their next shows will have the old spark. And I hope they come back to The Crepe Place!
Scissors for Lefty
I the Mighty and friends
WEST INDIAN GIRL, MOON CADILLAC
Honestly I don't have very much to say about this one. It was a spur of the moment, trivia-night-is-annoying-tonight-what-else-can-we-do kind of decision to go, and it was fun and I'm glad we went. Moon Cadillac had good energy and did a good job of playing the kind of music they play. Sort of a rock-blues something. I don't know. I'm really bad at classifying music genres and we only saw about three or four of their songs so it didn't really stick. But there was potential for sure.
West Indian Girl had three and a half vocalists, and two and a half of those were women, so I was waiting to hear with some trepidation. I know it's awful to be so anti-female-vocalist, but I'm always so picky about them. I think women just have a smaller range of ways to make their voices sound good, whereas men can do all sorts of funky things with their voices to make it work. It's not fair but it's how I feel.
There was some reason for me to be worried, because ehm, these girls were not the prettiest of voiced. Most of the time the sound of their voices worked for the music, even when it really didn't sound pretty, but there were definitely a few instances of screechiness.
The music itself was pretty fun, though. Very 1970's San Francisco. I read later that apparently West Indian Girl is a famous type of LSD, which is really fitting for them. It was all a little psychedelic.
I'm glad I saw them but I'm also glad that it was a cheap, $10 show at The Crepe Place. It was a fun way to spend an evening but nothing really exciting, so that was perfect.
I gotta update on Cold War Kids, but that show is something that I think should get its own post. So that's it for now!
No comments:
Post a Comment