Sea Wolf/Port O'Brien/Sara Lov

Sara Lov - Quiet folkish singer songwriter with nice voice, acoustic guitar and recorded backup tracks played on vinyl on a portable record player. That is a first, maybe a last, but it worked. A couple Sea Wolves helped out a bit at the end. Decent enough songs. She had to tell me she was covering an Arcade Fire song which I didn't pick up on because I didn't recognize it or it sounded different. I don't know their catalogue well enough anyway. The last original she did was quite good. Nice.

Port O'Brien - The surprise hit (for me at least) of last years Monolith Festival at Red Rocks in Colorado. They seemed to have lost the Neil Young type lead guitarist but still had a couple of guitars and banjo along with the rhythm section. The lead singer does a nice job and ultimately they produce a loose, jangly folk rock/americana blend that really works for me. They have above average songs and play a loose, fun style that is in the direction of Akron/Family but doesn't quite get that crazy or to that height. Two albums out and good things ahead for this band. I sense they already are doing pretty well across the Atlantic. Check them out.

Sea Wolf - A couple of guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and cell/keys. Lighter touch present with this band. Nice songs with good low-key vocals. This is the sort of band that I would need multiple listens to appreciate fully I think. As it is, I liked it well enough, but it didn't compel me to explore much more than this. Plus I have now added it to the list of Wolfmother, Wolf Eyes, Wolf Parade and many more where I have stopped trying to figure out which wolf is which. Even the owl bands confuse me, so I have had enough wolves for one lifetime. Still, nice set.

Quote of the Night: From the Port O'Brien lead singer... "We were in Baltimore last night and my parents showed up by surprise from the west coast. They're here and I thank them for coming . I also thank them for the $10 Whole Foods gift cards they gave everybody."