Nebula/Entrance Band/Naam - Black Cat - August 25 2009

Naam - The evening begins downstairs at the Black Cat. A small crowd is assembled but quickly fills to a moderate level as Naam kicks in. They are the first of three power trios in what appeared to be some combination of psyche, metal and hard rock bands. Naam has me hearing Blue Cheer right away, but it then morphs into a Hawkwind style. As the songs keep coming, it gets more into the heavy psyche style with even a hint of Sabbath. I thought they would be more metal, but they stayed spacey with some intriguing vocals that were strong, but atmospheric. The band I was finally reminded of was Om who are playing here shortly. They were a couple of metal guy who left their band and went into heavy psyche. Good sound, very nice band we have here. From Brooklyn, what a surprise.

Entrance Band - Third time for me with this trio and second time this year (see Sonic Youth show below). I thought this was their best effort. The expected psychedelic swirl of a sound was excellent, the songs sparkled and the crowd was at its peak and into the show. The guitarist thanked his dad for being here. I had him spotted early on kind of in a "spot the narc" sort of game played back in the sixties. The band's new record on Ecstatic Peace still isn't quite out, but the songs I heard have me itching to make a purchase.

Nebula - Unfortunately the late start thinned the crowd out a bit with some of the x'ed hands and metro riders cutting out before Nebula got set up. They announced prior to their song that their drummer quit on them after last night's show in Baltimore and they were able to get a replacement and get five songs together for the show tonight. They hoped to have a couple more tomorrow. Pretty amazing they were able to get something together that quickly, but also pretty necessary as they are only a week into a US tour with an extensive European tour right after. Note to this drummer and any others--life on the road for lesser known bands is rough. If you think you might not like it, you won't so don't even bother. Anyway, the new drummer did well, but the band was my least favorite of the night. They did more of a hard rock style with good wah-wah leads. A decent amount of power and pop, but just a bit more lacking in the song department. A good set, but judgment will be withheld until they get more settled.

Quote of the night: From the bassist of Naam talking to a guy behind me... "I'm kind of lost in the zone, but we have a hotel tonight. We showered, washed all our clothes and have a bed tonight. Gonna be awesome". The simple pleasures of the road. Kudos to him for recognizing a fan who bought a shirt from them the night before in Baltimore. And kudos to the fan for really supporting the music he likes by going to both shows. Nice to see the enthusiasm on both sides.