Review: 2 shows & 8 bands in 1 night: Kelley Stoltz, UV Race, Total Control, Young Offenders @ Hemlock Tavern; Trainwreck Riders, Pine Box Boys, The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit, Virgil Shaw @ GAMH 8/27
September 1, 2010
(Note to the reader: This is an epic tale, long in the telling. If you doubt your mettle, please at least scroll down and check out the respective headliners, who were both rad).
Sometimes the music options in this town present such a tasty dilemma. Friday night saw The Ferocious Few at Fort Mason, Cap’n Jazz at Bimbo’s, and down in Polk Gulch, two shows too good to pass up.
I’m set to cover Kelley Stoltz at the Hemlock, while some of my familiars have committed to hanging with their buddies Trainwreck Riders at the Great American Music Hall.
Over sushi in The Richmond around 8 PM, a plan emerges: With the help of an able research team, I will cover both shows. The night is warm; our legs are fresh. It can be done.
My sources tell me that Virgil Shaw, up first at the GAMH, is a family man who likes to get off stage early, so he will be stop number one. Sure enough, as we ease in, he is wrapping up his set. Nice, heavy, swampy sound. I’d love to say more, but he’s done by 9:05. Clearly, we can stay for another act before checking in at the Hemlock.
The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit – “The Burden of Sea Captains”
The Good Luck Thrift Store Outfit obliges us by setting up quickly and launching right into their set. (I have to say here, I so appreciate that. I hate it when a band takes 30 minutes of sullen set up and then goes backstage just to sweat the crowd for another 30. I am herein notifying you all that that is bogus).
TGLTSO is a large ensemble with some skilled and artful pickers. Matt Cordano is a huge asset, handling the Flying V, banjo and pedal steel without breaking a sweat. He trades licks with Jeremy Acker on the opposite side of the stage, who plays solos on his SG exactly how he plays them on the mandolin. Their two-step, harmony-filled ragers have the crowd jumping and swaying, especially when guest singer Bethany Taylor joins them.
It’s just a few minutes past 10:00 when I head up to the Hemlock, taking in some of our fair city’s other cultural highlights along the way.
