BigYawn

One of Revival’s(8) songs started with a line about friends being just as easy to find as enemies, or something like that. I don’t know the name of the song, but it was pretty apt for the night. You just never know who you’ll run into at these shows. And you can’t ignore everyone.

I was going to start this post by complaining about how the show started late, but there was virtually no time between sets, so that sped things up substantially. And I can’t bitch about everything. DAM! Festival alum Vandaveer(6) started at 10pm sharp, which was a little late for someone who had been out and about all Inauguration weekend long. Is it ok if I never use that word again? I’ll say this about Mark Charles Heidinger — more or less the one man show behind Vandaveer (along with Rose, his accompanying harmony) — for a singer-songwriter, his voice carries a lot of weight. I am ashamed to say I had not seen Vandaveer live before, and this was way more than a pleasant experience. His short set was highlighted by mostly mellow pieces, and that seemed to be a theme all night long.

BigYawn Presents alum (waaaay back at the ‘04 Artomatic) Brandon Butler(7) wasn’t just mellow, he also pulled out the serious twang. Playing as a three piece, he hit on what seemed to be mostly new material, but I haven’t seem him live in 4 years, and his songs seemed far less country then. I have to say, he really reached back to an almost bluegrass feel on a couple songs, and those really stood out to me. And for a scary looking dude he does have a hell of a voice.

Though I was ashamed to not have seen Vandaveer play live before, I was really ashamed to have never seen Revival play out. Their shows have obtained legendary local status as lead singer Josh Read is often drunk before they even take the stage, which often leads to various on-stage disasters — or so I have heard. Wives tails though they may have been, this was a band I’ve been wanting to catch for awhile.

I have to say, I was impressed but not over-whelmed. In truth, these bands were all playing in the back of a restaurant surrounded by ping pong tables. Not the ideal venue. But the sound was damn good considering. Horses of War is a mellow album, but it had a lot more grit to it than was heard tuesday night. According to some long time fans at the show, this particular band line-up was rather different than shows past. I get the sense that Revival — along with pretty much any band in the whole Federal Reserve collective, as they are called — swap out players like Friday night at a cheap jazz club. The highlight for me was hearing “Fog Rolling In” live.

And then the totally out of place Federico Aubele(9) took the stage. I take that back, he wasn’t completely out of place, because there were a hell of a lot of great musicians there on Tuesday. But Federico took the cake. A short distance from the sounds of his debut CD from ‘04, hearing Aubele without the aid of a tropical soundscape or any backbeat was different, yet just a cool. The man is a very talented finger picker, and his almost flameco styled songs clearly get the ladies all wet. There were a couple of fans — clearly there only for him — who were practically drooling, even after they found out his wife was in the room. Well, she let everyone know she was there. But if I was her I’d have done the same thing. That fro, man, hard to ignore.

While I’m glad I stayed out till 2 am to see all the acts, I would have loved to have seen a tad more energy. From somebody. Anybody. Maybe they were all as tired as me, but I hung in there for all 4 acts and I know most of the performers did not. And while I was psyched to have finally seen Revival, I look forward to them playing another show where I can see if they really can live up to even a portion of their reputation. In the meantime, do check out their ‘07 album, Horses of  War, below.

333 different bands over the course of the next 12 months. Roughly 2 shows a week. Duplicates don’t count. I have to see at least 3 songs for it to get tallied. Those are the ground rules.

Show #1 was a lark. Co-worker of a friend sort of thing. In thinking about this daunting task ahead of me, at some point you just need numbers, it doesn’t matter who the band is. And so it began.

The Black and Tan Fantasy Band(1) were playing weekly gigs at the 18th St. Lounge until recently, and their sound totally fits that scene. A three-piece, minus a few songs with a guest MC freestyling, their funky, tropical improv could easily cover a three set performance at the Lounge. Apparently the band is often joined by other musicians, including a full brass section. Too bad I missed that. I generally am not a fan of this type of music, especially when I have to stand up to hear it, but they were pretty solid musicans, that much I can respect. And bassist Ashish Vyas was insanely good. He’s a touring member of Thievery Corporation, so you’d expect him to be good. Also explains the 18th St. Lounge connection. It could have been much, much worse, which leads me to…

Played Tomorrow(2) were a pretty typical jam band. Jam is a term I use regularly, but whose definition I know is a very relative thing. We won’t all agree on it, but let’s just say for me, “jam” is synonymous with “I hate this hippe shit.” I’ll give Played Tomorrow some credit, there were a few songs which almost sounded more post-rock than jam. Almost. I was with a couple musicians, who really thought the music was “tight” — another word who’s musical definition is highly dependent on who you are and still slightly unclear to me. I would agree with that description, but that doesn’t change my overall feelings on the music.

So, I wasn’t all that thrilled with show #1. Ironic that it ended up being a fairly jammy-jam type of evening, given my distaste for the genre. Black and Tan Fantasy Band were alright, but Played Tomorrow was simply not my thing. But that’s not to say you wouldn’t like them. You fucking hippie.