Show round up part II
Finishing off the month of May
Deerhoof @ Open End Gallery /w Nedelle:
What a fantastic show. I have never been disappointed with anything at the Open end gallery and this was no different. Funny fact: the girl running the “bar” (not a real bar, but a counter where one could buy a PBR or boxed red wine) noticed that I had a Go4 shirt on (picked up the previous night) and asked what I thought of the show, since she was also there. Neat! Nedelle was great, she came out and did a few songs by herself and then brought on another guy for a few in the middle. Very delicate and breezy west coast folk. Deerhoof were even better then I expected. Listening to thier records I was ready for anything. What they bring to their live shows which isnt terribly evident from their records is how tight they are. 2 guitars/bass/drum who could all collectivly stop on a dime and turn the song around in a heartbeat. I was seriously impressed. I wasnt able to see the lead singer for most of the show until she stood ontop of a speaker, she is very short. Looking forward to their Intonation Fest apprence next week.
Doves @ The Vic w/ Mercury Rev:
Equal parts excitement and apprehension for this show. It had been a while since Kirstie and I saw Mercury Rev at a small club in Buffalo. Since then they have released 2 albums, changed the line-up slightly and gerenally got more wierd. I didnt mind “All is Dream” but we both werent to thrilled with the newest album. The set was preceeded by a photo-display of album covers and movie posters projected behind the empty set, the last one being a still of Robert Creely which I spoke of previously. The music set was heavy in songs from Deserters Songs and All is Dream which was nice. But, I think I made the set sound better by knowing all the songs previously, actually listening the soudn was very thin with not much detail in the guitars. This is pretty much how we remembered the show in Buffalo, amplified by the fact that the Vic has horrible sound. On the other hand the Doves were able to play at volumes loud enough to correct for the Vics poor sound and deliever a transcendental show. They played every song I wanted to hear, and did it with energy and skill that was mind shattering. One of the best shows of the year so far.
Next up the month of June.