Stellastar/Wild Light/Postmarks - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - July 17 2009

Postmarks - The winning haircut by the female vocalist/slight guitarist catches my eye quickly. It's the Louise Brooks look (with a wee bit more on back and sides) that is at least the second such haircut I've seen this past year on a stage. Backing are guitar, bass, drums and keyboards w/synth. I would say the starting point was a 60s pop-psyche style, but it really hit the modern indie rock-shoegazer-light psychedelic style a bit more as it went on. Yet another band that rocks it out at incredible power on the last song making me wonder if they could only have a bit more of that more often. But still a good band and an enjoyable set from this Miami-based band.

Wild Light - I first thought this may be the first New Hampshire band I've seen, but I seem to recall saying that already, but it has to be a short list. Slicker sound than Postmarks, but that is not necessarily a good thing and quite specifically here it was not. A good pop-rock sound from this four-piece who made me dizzy switching between bass/one or two guitars/keyboards and rotating lead vocal duties. An accomplished band that is just a bit too mainstream for me, but I would gladly watch them again some day and see how they do.

Stellastar - Where has this band been hiding from me? Oh, in New York City between 800 other touring bands. This four-piece is the real deal. Strong two guitar attack, great rhythm section and surprisingly original songs in a very established straight ahead rock style. The sound absolutely roared but didn't cause any wincing because it was a powerful mid-range roar. I was surprised at what a large crowd there was tonight until this band kept playing. Then I realized I should have been up on this band long ago. Yes, over 28,000 myspace friends, ok I'm slow here.

Quote of the night - "Is this water?" someone asked me about the two large containers next to me. I answered yes although how would I know if it wan't monkey urine? Well, that would probably cost $8, but anyway we had a nice chat as I tried to convince her that her son and a friend can go to most good clubs in DC at underage shows, because it's pretty well enforced and DC was one of the originators of the all ages show courtesy of the Dischord bands.

Occidental Brothers Dance Band/The Moderate - DC9 - July 16 2009

The Moderate - Ok, we begin with a young band composed of a couple guitars, bass and drums with the guitarist singing. I smell the blood of an indie band. Yes, that's what we have alright in kind of a pop-rock vein with a nod to Neil Young/Tom Petty/alt country once in a while. Started kind of off-kilter early on, but eventually did pretty well. One guitarist broke out a sax a couple of times which worked well. Their Black Keys cover wasn't much help to the set, but I am guessing they still are in need of songs. I think in a year, they'll be just fine.

Occidental Brothers Dance Band - A couple guys from Ghana on drums and vocals/percussion/trumpet teamed up with a guitarist, saxophonist, and a guy playing electric stand-up bass. They all live in Chicago and immediately described themselves as a Central African Jazz Indie Rock band. That's about right. Guitar lines were African styled and the music varied within their description. I didn't feel a wildly compelling drama in the music but it was very well played, fun, and easy to move and dance to. A couple songs did allow me to really soar with them in very high places. Certainly a nice night out for this small to moderate DC crowd tonight.

Quote of the Night: "You don't have to stay in line, you're a regular, come with me." from a server at Ben's Chili Bowl. This 50 year old U Street establishment has been even more packed since Mayor Fenty took the Obamas there for one of their first pre-inaugural meals in DC as president elect family. So 8:00 seating is pretty tough and I was quite surprised that me coming in every three weeks or so for a few months qualified me as a regular, but I'll take it. Now if they will only let me eat for free like Bill Cosby (who last discussed this restaurant on a Sunday morning news show). I am a regular at a couple other places, too, but I will consider the Full Kee in Chinatown my true regular spot.

Sonic Youth/Entrance Band - 9:30 Club - July 7 2009

The Entrance Band - Saw this three piece at Terrastock last year and was impressed. I enjoyed them again. They aren't a perfect fit (who is other than a wannabe clone?) with Sonic Youth but they are a good act and went over well, although a bit politely. The guitarist/vocalist plays a right handed strung guitar left handed ala Dick Dale and Albert King. I always find that fascinating for a start. He and his rhythm section perform spacey west-coast psychedelic jams that seem to be more of an updating of the San Francisco scene rather than Los Angeles where they hail. Solid set and he even handled a broken string without a hitch--must be something to do with the upside down/backward style.

Sonic Youth - Fourth time for me. Third time at this club, well second as the first was at the old 9:30 Club locale in 1987. I seem to hit a winner on the even number shows. The second was at CBGBs and they were breaking out Daydream Nation at that show which I really enjoyed. I found their show a couple years ago adequate, but being that it was the first of two shows in one night, it felt light and crammed into a tight timeslot. No problems here as they did their two sold out shows on successive nights and had plenty of time to do everything they wanted. Their energy was good, the songs really rocked--some good newer ones and a few from the classic back catalogue. The sound was very good--maybe a tad light on vocals, but it roared while allowing me to hear the intricate parts. A classic band still with plenty of fire.

Quote of the Night - From a guy near me directed toward the opener... "I saw you at Terrastock!" Yes, so did I. I was hoping to chat with him a bit, but I missed him. And then you become a sardine in a sold-out 9:30 Club show.

Jay Reatard/TV Smith - Black Cat - July 5 2009

TV Smith - Devoted (ha ha) readers of my blog will note that the vast numbers of bands covered here often come from the tricky to define psychedelic field and the easy to define classic punk field. And we begin with one of my favorites who I am seeing for the first time, Mr. TV Smith. TV was singer for the Adverts, a second tier UK punk band who wrote first tier songs. The Adverts first lp was once described as a series of A side singles on top of each other. Two albums and several singles and they were finished. TV has carried on sporadically playing acoustic guitars and writing songs in a Billy Bragg vein. He began with the Adverts "No Time to Be 21" and also played "New Church". His solo songs pretty much sounded like Adverts songs with power chorded acoustic riffs and punk style lyrics. Great energy, great songs and a respectful and enthusiastic audience lead by yours truly.

Jay Reatard - Hadn't heard a note of this act but had read many good things. I had mainly come for TV Smith anyway. Surprise! Brilliant set! A power trio of three guys at various stages of King Buzzo's hair growth put on a masterful display of classic punkrock with post punk, psyche, and power pop nods. Blistering pace with no quiet time between songs (ala early Husker Du and Honor Role) had me enjoying each song more than the last. This band deserves all the accolades and I only wished it was in the upstairs stage of the black cat as opposed to the packed, smelly downstairs room. I know, a packed club is more fun for all, but hopefully they will have even more fans for their return and fill the club even further. If anyone listens or sees them, they will be converted.

Adverts/Jay Reatard - Jay Reatard's encore featured TV Smith singing for Adverts songs with Jay Reatard. What an amazing bonus! Worthy of a set unto itself. Gary Gilmore's Eyes, One Chord Wonders, Bored Teenagers, and... ugh, this is what I get for fogetting my notebook, maybe it was We Who Wait? Whatever, it was brilliant and seeing TV Smith thrash around to these songs really made me feel I was at the Roxy in 1977.

Quote of the Night: TV Smith introuction... "This is a song I wrote for Lords of the New Church called Lord's Prayer". This kind of confirms my theory that Stiv Bators and his Dead Boys cronies really weren't writers and faded hard when they ran out of Rocket from the Tombs songs to claim as their own. I really don't know Lords that well and maybe Brian James could write well enough, but Lords was a big disappointment in the end. But this is a long discussion...

The Church/Adam Franklin - State Theatre - June 28 2009

Adam Franklin - I saw a good review of Franklin (singer from Swervedriver, one of those big bands in the UK that don't necessarily translate to the US... Stone Roses, Primal Scream, etc.) in Jack Rabid's Big Takeover Magazine (essential reading for you uninitiated out there). The CD of Franklin was excellent as was this live set. He plays good straight rock music with a psyche-shoegaze vibe ever present. Tasty guitar interplay, good songs--nary a wrong note to be found in his set. And he plays a nice really beat up Fender. Check him/them out when they come to a town near you!

The Church - This Australian band drew a good crowd tonight and seemed to deliver the lush pop rock the masses wanted. I found them a little bit samey with something vacillating between college rock and mainstream rock. Not at all bad, just not enough for me to really sink my teeth in. But if you want some good catchy songs and you lean a bit toward the mainstream, do check out the Church.

Quote of the Night - A guy telling the merch. stand attendant... "The last time I was here, I was watching a movie... mid seventies... I think it was The Cat from Outer Space".

Ozric Tentacles/Big in Japan - State Theatre - June 26 2009

Big in Japan - Three piece with a drummer, keys/flute/sax vocalist, and a bass player who played a bit of guitar. Kind of simple rhythms for a prog looking band with one song even reminding me of Flipper (not an insult). Bass a bit buzzy, vocals cloudy but they were very infrequent anyway. I enjoyed the music and the flute and sax were nice touches. I'll give them passing grades for establishing a nice sound for the evening.

Ozric Tentacles - These little known, but long time UK space rocking psyche progsters hit the State Theatre for the second time that I've seen. I missed the last show which had around 45 people, but tonight's was much better attended. They are lead by their guitarist/programmer/synth writer Ed Wynne (and if I create a joke about his name it will show you how really old I am, so I'll spare you). His wife Brandi places bass and more synths/sequencers/samplers etc. They have a drummer too to keep things thrusting forward. The sound was very good and the music is more fun for me live than the couple of records I've heard or own. After a while, some young lad looking way too much like Ed Wynne came on to play keyboards while Brandi focused on bass. Yes, he is their son and he really punched up the set quite a bit to my liking. Ed switching to acoustic guitar also gave some different results to keep the set from being too much of a smooth prog muzak feel. I am not sure I want to go buy the records, but it is nice to see this family jamming away from time to time.

Quote of the Night: Quiet night, so it will be quote from the previous show. While buying some future tickets (still waiting for those comps, clubowners), I overheard a guy say "I've lived within a couple blocks from this place for x years (3? 5? forgot the number) and I've been to like one show, but now I'm hitting three in less than a week--Vander Graff Generator, The Church, and Peter Murphy".

Van der Graaf Generator/Acoustic Strawbs - State Theater - June 24 2009

Acoustic Strawbs - Third time in recent years that I've seen these hard touring veterans. They tour as a five piece full band and promised this version next year (with former Strawb Rick Wakeman's son replacing John Hawken). But the acoustic version is Dave Cousins and Dave Lambert on guitars and lead vocals along with bassist Chas Cronk also supplying backup vocals, 12-string and not quite acoustic foot pedal Roland effects. Even acoustic, this trio plays great, strong progressive songs from their wonderful back catalogue. Cousins has one of the finest voices anywhere and I'm always surprised at how good a singer Lambert is as well. Lambert plays excellent leads and the sound is quite full. They played Lay Down/Grave New World/Oh How She Changed (and I have gotten my money's worth at this point of the evening)/ A new song about Norway/Hangman and the Papist/Autumn. The set ended kind of early for me, but it was 45 minutes which tells me how involved I was in the songs. The Strawbs are an excellent still undiscovered band for many who still can deliver great music.

Van der Graaf Generator - A rare, rare appearance from this cult progressive band from the classic prog days. Like King Crimson, they play a hard assertive progressive music that is darker than most and was very influential amongst many different styled bands. John(ny Rotten) Lydon has always cited VDGG and Can as key influences and you can really hear that in the vocal stylings of Pete Hammill and what Lydon did. Hammill's writing and vocals are exciting and unique in any genre and he still delivered searing vocal lines tonight. He also played guitar and a Roland. He was accompanied by long time key early members Hugh Banton on Hammand/Roland and Guy Evans on drums. Early in the set, I was really missing the sax attack from David Jackson who played with them a few years back but retired. Hammill moved to guitar after three songs and there was a bit more attack which livened things up. By the end of the set (where he ultimately played 4 songs on guitar, 6 on keys), I got used to the three piece sound and felt they delivered a still credible set of strong VDGG songs (Scorched Earth and Lemmings included, although not all the "hits"). Probably the best of the set was a Pete Hammill solo album song (missed the title but I'll find it sometime) that he promised that although solo, it was still pretty extreme. It certainly was and got the best ovation from the many hardened VDGG fans in attendance. Great show.

No, he won't.

Quote of the Night: I'll do two. Early in the set, the crowd was yelling thanks for coming and various welcomes and one guy yelled "Finally - it's been 36 years!" Hammill responded "well, forever actually."

But the annoying three guys on the metro (and I wasn't alone based on the eye contact I made with a woman just as they exited) gave all of us within earshot various highlights of their favorite company Christmas parties of years past. I'm not sure I needed this in December let alone June.

Vieux Farka Toure/Elikeh/Farafina Kan - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - June 22 2009

Farafina Kan - A local ensemble comprised of six men drumming with one playing an exotic African stringed instrument and five women singing, dancing and percussing. They play the music of Mali and other West African countries. Obviously the rhythms are key, but melodies come through. The vocals are call and response style as I try to sound like the expert I am not (although I recognized some traditional dance moves as I've seen some dance companies many moons ago). The performers were excellent and the music was moving and had the large crowd off to a great start.

Elikeh - Three guitars, two drummers (one trad, one kit) Bass and two brass players took the stage and played kind of a Soca-rock thing as best I can describe. I really need my world-beat expert buddy from Dayton (DJ Rev. Cool aka Jim Carter) to help me with the details. Another nice effort from this local band.

Vieux Farka Toure - Between Bonaroo and festivals in SF and Detroit, Mr. Toure is touring the country and is not to be missed. He's a great guitarist playing snakey and ringing lines in an African fusion rock style which is hard to describe. It reminded me of George Clinton with the interesting style combinations and guest musicians moving in and out of the songs (some from the opening bands, others from parts unknown). His basic band is himself on vocals and electric guitar with an acoustic guitar, bass, drummer on kit and drummer on traditional drums. Big sound even with the smaller lineup and strong powerful music. Not always intricate, sometimes focused on power, other times on mood, but it had me hooked from beginning to end.

Quote of the Night: Quiet night and I can't hear in loud clubs even though I am sure there is bizarre conversation going on around me. After getting assistance with the English wording(?), Vieux Farka Toure said that "everyone's the same, brother-sister, you know..."

Vandaveer/Lost in the Trees/Englishmen - DC9 - June 16 2009

Englishmen - The keyboardist from These United States joined a m/f guitar/vox duo for a nice set of folkish songwriter material. Nothing exploded off the charts but it was quite accessible and pretty high quality to my ears. In this genre, there isn't much difference between a nice opening act and some of the big-label headliners. Although one thing would help this band's chances--picking a name that can be quickly found in Myspace or Youtube.

Lost in the Trees - Eight people crowded the stage playing various instruments including: 2 violins, 2 cellos, acoustic guitar, mandolin, electric guitar, accordian, glockenspiel, tuba, keyboard, and drums. The singer mentioned that this was the "lite"version as 14 of them will hit the stage when they are home in North Carolina. Excellent music and a lovely set well arranged and well received by the sizable crowd. They reminded me of one of the surprise sets at last year's Terrastock Festival, an oversize band from Louisville called Sapat. My radar goes up when I see a mini-orchestra headed to the stage at a rock show, but after these two bands, it's time to worry less and be open to great music from bands of any size.

Vandaveer - Married folk duo with Mark Charles Heidinger singing and playing guitar with his wife (portraying a latter day Diana Dors look) adding excellent harmonies. Solid enough and occassionally transcendant. A local act that is worth going out of your way for. I enjoyed the set and the night very much.

Quote of the Night: Ok, the set up... After 8 musicians left the stage, the two members of Vandaveer step up, position two microphones and plug in an acoustic guitar. The guitarist spends several minutes working with the soundman to get his monitor correct singing "1-7, all good boys go to heaven" or somesuch ditty. After several minutes of tweaking the soundman asks the patiently seated female singer for a check giving us the quotes "Check-sounds good". About half the audience chuckled and prompted the guitarist/husband to add "You're not supposed to show me up until the third song, that's what we agreed on." All in good fun, I might add.

The Dillinger Escape Plan/3 more bands - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - June 11 2009

Four bands tonight, at least they are starting early, which they pretty much have to in compliance with local laws and all...

Octaves - First, does the Royal Praetorian Guard (aka security with a chiseled head) have to stand guard front and center of the fairly low stage so the lead singer's head is only a couple feet above his? Well, yes, as this was his spot the rest of the night. He needn't worry as this band didn't exactly rev the crowd into a frenzied mosh pit. Thrash-rock, some rocking, some ringing guitars, dull vocals, inane chatter, but sincere and I think he could do better. Band isn't there yet.

Knife the Glitter - "I know what you're thinking, this is the best name ever". That from one of the members. Well, he can look back at the end of the year to see if he makes my best name list. Until then, maybe they can come up with some more interesting songs. Instrumental prog-metal, choppy rock that stayed well below the heights of Caverns or Kinski. Something was missing and I am not talking about the vocals.

The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Prog-thrash. Some good moves among banal singing, even a couple psyche moves. Still, just not consistently compelling even on a low expectation scale. Still, not terrible.


The Dillinger Escape Plan - A very popular band, at least out east. More of the thrash, metal, prog, creative moves kinds of things that the other bands sometimes approached. In this case, the Dillinger guys have it a bit more together. To be fair, I was pretty well exhausted at this point, so I'll defer to the crowd who enjoyed them much. I doubt I would want to hear their CDs or MP3s too often, though. You could do worse (and I did earlier that evening).

Quote of the Night: While walking along H Street, two women got out of their car and walked up and asked "Could you tell us how to get to Washington DC?"

Dark Meat/Vomit Lasers Family Band - The Red & the Black - June 10 2009

The afternoon began with me getting an early start to beat rush hour traffic out of DC and get to Vienna, Virginia to see Luka Bloom, a classic Irish folker. I was surprised at the traffic trying to get onto Constitution and begin heading west and took a U-turn only to get into another jam. Fortunately I had the radio on NPR and I hear about the shooting by some archaic white supremacist who this planet had to suffer with for 88 years. So, another U-turn and I got out of the way of traffic through several road closures and a bridge closure. But there was another good show, closer to home, so off I went...

Dark Meat/Vomit Lasers Family Band - Actually two of this band opened with another guitarist whose name I failed to catch. It was a nice set with a George Clinton cover and several other psyche-rock jams. But Mr. Soundman, next time watch the painful vocal bursts. I mean, there was only one guitar amp mic'ed along with one vocal mic. How hard can it be?

The full, and I mean full band hit the stage later. Well, the trumpeter stood in front of the stage, but the other seven members were there. I was worried when the singer/guitarist didn't really explain how many microphones they needed until the bass player got there. It started pretty messy, but decent and then it all sort of made sense by the next song. There was the trumpet with a faint piccolo, and trombone (also doubled with keys and percussion) in addition to 2 guitars, bass, drums, backup vocals. Kind of a post-rock sixties psyche-garage band sound. Very reminiscent of a band I enjoyed a lot called the Linus Pauling Quartet. Raucous, unique and lots of fun. A really fun band I will go see again anytime they come through.

Quote of the Night: After explaining to the booker/money taker that Luka Bloom's loss was his gain tonight, he said that yeah, someone dies like that and bridges and roads lock down and someone dies on this side of town (Northeast) and nobody blinks...

TV on the Radio/Dirty Projectors - 9:30 Club - June 9 2009

Dirty Projectors - The wind and rain abated just as I pulled into the club prior to the opener's set. They started as a electric guitar and female singer duo which was good but it should have been acoustic. I hoped for change and got a full band of three women, three guys. One guy sang, but the women all sang even better including some really magical and very weird vocal work--very rhythmic to the point where I wasn't sure it was voice or synthesizer. Could've been both, but mostly voice I think. Unfortunately the music was noodling guitar clashing with funky bass, sometimes working other times making my mind wander. Overall, not too bad, but a reconfiguration could produce some real magic. Oh, and flip a coin, heads they're from Brooklyn, tails they are from somewhere else. It's heads!

TV on the Radio - First time for me and I purposely didn't listen to anything by them which means almost everything was new as I hadn't heard anything in over two years. They start strong, went stronger, slowed a bit and finished up with a vocal wallop with the opening band assisting in a huge choral finale. Great dreamy psyche into pulsating throbs of acid rock and soulful flourishes. A really excellent set and a creative band. I enjoyed it lots as did the sold out crowd that had their tickets the day they went on sale.

Quote of the Day - "Somebody get that man in the sound booth a drink" from TV's guitarist. Yeah, he was doing a good job, I'll give him that, but I'll be damned if I'm wading through the sardines to get to the sidebar and come back with his $8 drink when a band of your size and stature has enough of a rider to give me a diet coke and him plenty of the hard stuff.

X/Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts - 9:30 Club - June 6 2009

Steve Soto and the Twisted Hearts - Soto is the bass player for the Adolescents and was integral in creating the great LA backing vocal style in the punk scene. This just preceded Bad Religion's "Oozin' Aahs". So I looked forward to seeing him at lead vocals and rhythm guitar with a band I did not know. He was augmented with guitar, bass, drums, and keys/accordian. They played a rootsy rock music that is pretty common in California. Many of the songs were well above average if not very good and the musicians were excellent as well. Soto was in fine voice as well. The crowd grew during the set and had a good time.

X - The original four members tour as X and many of them play and tour in various other bands as well. Apparently, they played the 30 songs voted on by DC people visiting their web site. So no classic was skipped and it was fun to see what made it through or was missed. If memory serves, this may be the first time I heard "When our Love Passed Out on the Couch". Musically it started slow (with John Doe saying that if there were too many slow songs, we were to blame and having Exene snap back that the slow songs are ok), but it really built and the magic of the X style came through winningly in the end. I was worried that turnout was going to be weak, but it did pack out by the time they played, although the stage was moved forward. There music doesn't quite have that dangerous edge that they had in the day, but maybe that's due to seeing Billy Zoom's constant beatific grin while the dark lyrics are sung. Zoom had a bandage on his forhead, covering his third eye no doubt, but was his usual grinning, affable self spending the time between closer and first encore staying on stage taking photos of the crowd, chatting, shaking hands. He's in his own world, but he's one of the friendliest guys you'll see. Great band, still. Catch them when you can.

Quote of the Night: Steve Soto told the story of the Adolescents first US tour playing the old 9:30 Club with a straight edge band who baffled them when they did stretching before the set, while the only thing the Adolescents stretched was the boundaries of substance use and partying. He then said he'd hang out and exchange war stories by the merch stand. So I did make it over later and chatted with him as I saw that tour in Chicago. He remembered it was with the Bad Brains at the Cabaret Metro. He also remembered them getting stuck in Dayton for a bit and staying with Ed Pittman. I chatted with his guitarist from Dayton even who had the Toxic Reasons first single (I managed Toxic Reasons in 1980 and a bit after). So it was fun rehashing old memories and it is amazing he remembered all the details he did, but that's the way it was for me as well. Good times, challenging, but certainly rewarding now.

Love is All/Real Estate/Ra Ra Rasputin - Black Cat - June 4 2009

Ra Ra Rasputin - Good dance/pop band four-piece. Nice groove got the crowd hopping and swaying and even a restart of the last song was quickly forgiven. They seem to gig quite a bit and will earn their following. Although it has hard for me not to think of the Boiled in Lead song that their name reminds me of.

Real Estate - Ok, I swear I've seen these guys before or is it just the singer's hair and glasses? I, of course, am writing this without doing any research on my own blog. But to the music... I was pleasantly surprised that such a dully named band could come up with such good music. Really good rock music with a touch of Americana, but kind of psyche-pop-rock I would think. I believe they realize their vocals aren't their best attribute (but not bad) as they do a couple of instrumentals. Very enjoyable in spite of the name (I may be biased as I've just retired from 25 years of reviewing businesses in the mortgage and real estate industry and I'm still enjoying my separation).

Love is All - Now this band I know I saw recently at the Rock'n'Roll Hotel (See December entry below). I liked them then, like them now. I wouldn't mind seeing them again as I can always use a dose of their infectious new wavey pop songs done on the sunnier side of the X-Ray Spex street. They both take me back and allow me to just have fun in the moment. Two things I always like to do.

Quote of the Day: Love is All's singer... "I don't want to be rude, but it's more fun without the cameras in front as I'd like to be able to see people, too". This in response to massive flashes by two cameramen the whole night long that kept me half blind and looking down a lot. I'll have to remember this when I compile my list of ten things that annoy me at clubs.

Isis/Pelican/Tombs - Black Cat - May 30 2009

Tombs - a thick hard trio with a bit of tempo. Kind of in the Melvins camp at a guess. They are from New York and when bands focus on an interesting sonic assault over songs, it can be very interesting if they do it well and don't go on about it for too long. This was one of those cases.

Pelican - A four-piece (two guitar) instrumental act. They did the shoe gazing style loud assault that did have some dynamics working and about half song oriented/half jam. Perfectly good, perfectly unmoving, however. They went over well so I am being a wee bit harsh I think. But see above about set length excess.

Isis - Five piece rock band from LA here. Hadn't known of them, but they drew a good crowd and had their act together. Two guitars and some keys that became a third guitar more often than not. Vocals were kind of Opeth-like with good normal singing and some death metal growl. Music was more psychedelic heavy as opposed to metal. Good spacey vibe in the songs and quite involving. Impressive show, a vibrant crowd and a good set through and through. Worth the price of admission this time, for sure.

Quote of the Night: Virtually no stage patter and I was dead tired, so nothing interesting or dull was overheard. I will say that the Black Cat staff was friendlier than the 9:30 staff, but stay tuned for a full club analysis later this year.

Opeth/Enslaved - 9:30 Club - May 27 2009

Enslaved - Norwegian death metal sets the stage for Swedish death metal. Scary? No, actually a lot of fun with engaging, funny commentary from both bands. Enslaved performed fifty minutes of creative progressive metal that had all the usual sounds with keyboards (almost always needed to be called progressive metal I guess). Nice soundscapes, melodies, and a pretty good pulse throughout. It was the last show on tour and they survived the hijinx of Opeth taking a sampling machine and piping fart noises in their monitors which they had to explain as to why they were giggling. Satan rules? Good band.

Opeth - A near sell-out crowd was very pumped for Opeth who delivered a strong two hours of creative metal. Mikael Artedt did his usual gutteral-to-normal vocal switches and it reminded me of how good the sound was in that the vocals were not over the top of the mix (which I appreciate with the guttural vocals) but were very distinct and worked as an instrument. Great guitar interplay, keys and at least one song with some very inventive drumming. Another strong outing since the last time I saw them on a boat between Stockholm and Helsinki.

Quote of Night - Since it was the last show, both bands did a lot of "credits" of band members and crew. Three of the guys in Enslaved were taking their turns when they got near the end and the bassist/singer turned to the even more Viking-like guitarist and had him introduce their tour manager by saying "You can do your wife"... "I can do my wife?"

White Noise Supremacists/The Dig/All the Kings - The Red & the Black - May 17 2009

White Noise Supremacists - Best named band nomination goes to this solo black female guitarist/drummer/singer who did the basic one-man band guitar loops with additional guitar or drums and vocals. Very song oriented and not half-bad. Not quite fully realized, but a nice start. She's from Brooklyn, shock of shocks.

The Dig - Also from NYC, this four piece was a good standard guitars/bass/drums/keys/2-vocal pop-rock band. Likable songs, aggressive hooks, good singing, a decent blend of positives. As is often the case, the last song was the most manic and brilliant song in the set making me desire more in that vein. Still, I'll see them again, especially since they some how found me through Myspace and marketed their gig to me. Good job and important since they hit the peak attendance at 10-16 people, not counting the three club workers but counting other band members.

All the Kings - Nothing really clicked here. I took no notes and politely stayed until they kind of ended a song when the drummer stopped and thanked us all for coming. There were about three of us at this point, six maximum. Their stuff on Myspace sounded better, but there were just too many disparate parts at work and the songs simply were not that good. They are from Boston and I hope they aren't relying too much on the door here for gas money. Good luck.

Quote of the Night - Sometimes I am not sure if I hear these correctly, but I think I got this one word for word from someone not named Carmen SanDiego: "It's a college town, it's not far from Chicago, not far from DC, well it's far from New York."

Rodriguez/War on Drugs/Donny Hue and the Colors - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - May 13 2009

Donny Hue and the Colors - Three piece guitar/bass/drums with some harmonica. Even though the music seemed a bit light at times--countryish folk, I had to move back because the bass was pounding in my ear a bit much. Maybe if the songs moved me more, I would have stayed. Nothing too exciting, but not insulting. A few more intriguing moves at the end so there is hope, but nothing to bring me back anytime soon.

The War on Drugs - This Philadelphia trio had an electric rhythm section (although the drummer was sans highhats) and a guy who sang played two acoustic guitars and one electric. Even when acoustic, the music was strong, pulsating and vibrant. Good vocals and good songs as well. Just a good strong modern rock band that is a bit psychedelic, but in a song oriented, jamming setting. A highly likable band that could do well. Keep at it.

Rodriguez - This guy from Detroit had two obscure records from about 70-71 era. Kind of a psyche-folk band, ergo I knew about these records for some time (and have the vinyl). I was surprised to see the show announced as I wasn't sure many people had heard of him. Well, the music is reissued and there is a bit of a cult following. Rodriguez showed up with a four-piece band behind him and three fairly superfluous brass players who were only lightly used and just as lightly audible when used. There were about a hundred people or so that mostly enjoyed the show(and rightly so). Rodriguez was engaging in a very burnt out stoner manner and appeared pretty frail as he was helped on and off the stage by the bassist. But he stood there, played guitar and sang just fine although the voice was a little thin. Still, a good full head of hair belying his age, a cool silver peace sign buckle on his belt, and oh yeah, some nice songs from his albums. The band was good which was essential and a pretty fun evening. Not one of those ultimate life defining moments, but worth the effort on everyone's part. Healthwise, I would put him in the better than Shane MacGowan and Roky Erickson category, but not quite up to Arthur Lee (prior to his death obviously) or Tom Rapp or countless others. Maybe a more spaced out Clive Palmer? Whatever, I hope his tour goes well as it's great to get to see another cool, "lost" artist.

Quote of the Night: In an exchange between an audience member and the guitarist/singer of the first band...

I like your (mus)stache.

Thanks, I really appreciate that. You want to come up and play shakers for us?

No, not really.

The Damned/Mastodon/Kylesa - Black Cat/9:30 Club - May 12 2009

No this isn't a cool punk/metal show, but more of a basic screw-up. I ended up with a Mastodon ticket and a Damned ticket for the same night. I leaned more toward wanting to see the Damned but headed to the 9:30 to try and sell the ticket to the sold out Mastodon show. No luck, but I noticed the times were all early for the three bands and the doors were opening at 6:30. Walking by the Black Cat, they hadn't opened the doors at 5 minutes to 8:00 (Eight was the intended time), so I figured the Damned wouldn't be on until 11:00 with their two openers, so why not head back to the 9:30 and do both shows? So that's the plan!

Kylesa - I got there just in time for the middle band's set. Kylesa started with a decent but nearly cliched metal cut and then quickly moved into better territory. Very much like the headliner, being based in strong metal sound, but exploring more territory than most. So a set that made me happy as well as the progressive metalhead fans of Mastodon.

Mastodon - I just had to look up some details to see what five sold out shows in Copenhagen meant for this band. The venue can hold 10,000 people! What? Oh, further research shows that a band called Metallica is also playing. Alright, this band isn't quite that big, but good powerful songs, regular touring, no nonsense non-stop playing, and good buzz may get them in Metallica's neighborhood some day. But they are big enough now, catch them while you can. I left after about an hour-ten to catch my other show.

The Damned - Arriving at the Black Cat at about 10:35, I wasn't sure what I missed. A couple minutes later, the lights dimmed and the Damned hit the stage. Hmm, where's Vanian? I heard he missed some Europe or Far East shows with some family illness or something. Ah, here he comes right on cue to hit his vocal cue on "Love Song". It's just him and Captain Sensible with three newer guys on Bass/Drums/Keys. So the rightful focus is on Machine Gun Etiquette which provided six songs tonight by my count. First two albums supplied four and few other mid-period "hits". They covered Love's "Alone Again or" which they have recorded and makes I believe the fourth band I've seen do this (Love, UFO, and someone earlier this year I've forgotten). Sensible was in fine comedic and engaging form and the band was very good. Quite a bit better since the last time I saw them in early 1982. That had me thinking... 27 years between sightings? I think that exceeds or ties my record with Blue Oyster Cult which was about 26 or 27. I'll see if I can come up with something else. Vanian did his usual crooning and was in fine form still. Band was good, a bit apart at the seems at times, but this is the Damned. Nothing bad and the wreckless abandon is part of the charm and success. A good crowd was having a very good time. Most were like me, visiting old friends from many years ago. A great show where Sensible commented that they should get back here again soon. So in the battle between classy, slick prog-metal and classic punk, I have to go with my heart and stay Damned to eternity.

Quote of the Night - Captain Sensible was trying to recall a riot twenty years ago. "I was doing nothing, just standing on stage and a riot breaks out". pauses to listen to guy in front row. "This man has a story to tell, ladies and gentlemen, meet Malcolm McClaren!".

Ghost/Magik Makers - Velvet Lounge - May 10 2009

Magik Markers - A band with a lot of buzz that I've seen once before. A three piece with Singer-Guitarist Elisa Ambrogio with bassist and drummer/keys/guitar/whatever. I enjoyed the set more this time around with really nice driving psychedelia, both quiet and moderately raucous (if there is such a thing). I couldn't put my finger on a good comparison until I thought of the unclassifiably punk band, Flipper. The Markers do some of the same fierce originality and odd playing that the Flipper oddballs did many a year back. Good set.

Ghost - The regular six gentlemen from Japan had Helena Espvall of Espers and all kinds of other projects on cello. No surprise as singer Masaki Batoh and Espvall played for me at Terrastock last year prior to touring Europe and around. Ghost was a little more stripped down instrumentally without a lot of the electronics and timpani, but still created the usual great sounds. Batoh did start the show by blowing into something that looked like a loosely closed umbrella with burnt out Christmas tree lights on it. Michio Kurihara more than filled in any missing sounds with his usually brilliant searing lead guitar work. Nice mix of songs, although one jam got a little long on the jazz which is usually ok, but I wanted as many songs as they could pack in from their vast catalogue. Ultimately they played a lot and played great and I hope they come back again next year.

Quote of the Night: "Have you ever heard of the Fall?" I was asked while dining in Ben's Chili Bowl. Generally, the counter is good for some throwaway conversation, but that one surprised me. However, I was reading a Mojo and the guy next to me noticed the headline was a play on words on a Fall album. I did tell them that I had heard of them and seen them once in Cleveland (opening for a pre-Zen Arcade Husker Du, no less). Anyway, we do owe it to John Peel to talk about the Fall now and then. So here's my Fall story for this year.