Photos: The Bay Bridged Presents The Dodos @ The Independent - June 19th
June 27, 2008
Low Red Land, Death to Anders at the Make-Out Room, June 8
June 27, 2008
Man, what a show. I missed Reduced to Ruin entirely, though, and only caught half of Death to Anders, a five-man outfit from LA.
Death to Anders: I will be purchasing their music. The changes are great, they play rock variously and very well . . . crisp and loud . . . different textures, too, and an amazing bassist. No surprise, their being from LA and all, that I hadn’t heard them before Sunday. Haven’t been to Silver Lake in quite a while. But if I’m down there on vacay or to help fight fires I’ll definitely check to see if they have a show, for sure. More garage I’d say than indie, there’s a J. Spencer blues a-thrumming and I applaud them especially for figuring out how to maintain a consistent sound while trading vocals between guitarists. Rhythm sings one tune, lead sings the next two, and so on. And if you were to close your eyes you really wouldn’t be able tell the difference, which is a compliment. Vocal consistency is a good and laudable thing. And !biggup! to the Makeout Room on this, too. I’ve yet to see a show there that wasn’t well mixed.
Low Red Land: I first saw these three guys at the baybridged inaugural rooftop podcast and they definitely made an impression with what was a stripped-down, bring-your-own-banjo type of acoustic set. Then cut to Sunday, which was rock and roll, irrevocably. They played with energy (even more impressive because they’d just gotten off a plane from NY hours before the show) and a little twang, reminds me of Son Volt, not Wilco. The vocals have a Mountain Goats ring to them (another compliment, Go Wolfpack!), and the interplay–both instrumentally and vocally–between bassist Ben Thorne and guitarist Neil Thompson is spot on and harmonically gratifying. It drives fairly hard when it wants, tho, too. Think Arcade Fire, I don’t want to say Band of Horses, but I just did.
The Parties, Dora Flood, Junior Panthers at Du Nord May 29
June 20, 2008
It was Sarah’s last show as a member of The Parties and I’m sure she’ll be missed playing that thing stage right–is that a Gibson? Anyway, The Parties, it sounds pretty tight, and lo and behold, you can actually make out many a word. Word? Word. Very danceable, too, but people rarely dance at Du Nord, judging from what I’ve seen there. But you could dance to the Parties at Du Nord if you wanted to. We’re not fascists yet.
Anywho, bon voyage, Sarah. They sounded pretty good with her . . . pass the beer nuts. But what will become of their high end? We’ll see, I guess. Meanwhile The Parties win the award for coolest-looking kickdrum. It has “The Parties” tagged thereupon in some retrofit party type. “The Parties” was my favorite of what they played, besides “Life’s a Gas,” an old T. Rex tune the provenance of which they forgot to share with us; partying a bit too hard, presumably, to remember who wrote what. But it’s cool, it was a bit of alright.
Penny Arcade Celebrates 3rd Anniversary (aka Raul is One Sweet Dude)
June 13, 2008
Last Wednesday night I headed over to the Make-Out Room, admittedly a place I frequent much less since they scaled back their music calendar to mostly early evening shows on the weekends. Only a year ago, I could recall dozens of times where serendipity and a disco ball promised a respectable, if not a standout night of local music on any given night for slightly more than a take-home movie. While I can appreciate any local business’s adaptation amidst the new missionocracy, it still bums me out a little.
Without covers, and an innocuous dj easing the awkward gaps of conversation of its “after dinner drink” crowd, perhaps the bar is racing through a lot more Grey Goose. This is not to say I do not occasionally enjoy some of the fine dj-themed evenings they present, but it goes without saying there’s something a bit more visceral about a live show. So, when I arrive, the astute doorman gives in to a couple who pleads with him to duck the cover, grab a drink, and leave before the music starts. Naturally, the moment exemplified their business dilemma, and kinda made me want to spill beer on them.
That aside, I was happy to learn that Penny Arcade (a semi-monthly celebration of local artists with a folk bent) had been awarded a regular weeknight from the club. In its brief history, the Arcade’s alumni includes: The Dodos, The Papercuts, Mia Doi Todd and members of Rogue Wave and Beulah. Celebrating its third anniversary, and the hard work of its charismatic founder Raul, were San Jose’s The Mumlers, Oakland’s suave music vet Bart Davenport and San Francisco’s nearly one man band (Nathan) Moomaw.
Photos: Or, the Whale, Pete and J, Greg Ashley - June 5th @ The Independent
June 13, 2008
Wednesday, 5/28 at Annie’s: Petracovich, Ray’s Vast Basement, The Physics of Meaning
June 9, 2008
It had been a little while since I’d seen a good show, and the lineup last Wednesday (5/28/08) at Annie’s Social Club was an intriguing mix of Bay Bridged favorites and new-to-me acts. It wasn’t the most well-attended show, but it was the sort of unencumbered evening where you could just sit back and enjoy some great loose performances.
Jessica Peters took the stage first as Petracovich (Feature Podcast), playing a thirty-minute solo set of subdued indie folk-pop largely drawn from her upcoming third album. A couple months back, Jessica sent The Bay Bridged a CD of new home recorded demos, which became one of those double-edged perks of site proprietorship: wonderful because the demos capture that layered emotive pop with personal lyrics that she does so well, and frustrating because they feel plenty release-worthy and the new album is still a few months away.
The Petracovich sound has been classified as “folktronica,” but the latest demos feel much more organic than electronic, and Wednesday’s set featured limited xylophone looping alongside Peters’ voice, piano and banjo. Less instruments meant more focus on the lyrics, which felt personal and familial because they were just that. As she explained between songs, one new composition used lyrics that her sister had composed at age 6, and another drew from a late night North Bay driving experience. Petracovich is a family name, she noted, and her set was the sort of close, autobiographical experience that often feels with the best of singer-songwriter performances.
Photos: Last of the Blacksmiths, The Fresh and Only’s, El Capitan - May 24th @ Cafe du Nord
June 6, 2008
Arcadio, Mist & Mast, The Definite Articles @ The Rickshaw Stop
May 30, 2008
Last Wednesday (5/21/2008) featured a great local bill over at The Rickshaw Stop with Arcadio, Mist & Mast (Feature Podcast), and The Definite Articles. Photographer Francis Chung was at the show to capture the night - check out the photos after the jump!
