Flower Travellin' Band/Gondola/Kuschty Rye Ergot - Velvet Lounge - March 17 2009

Gondola - A nice late start on a Tuesday evening as Gondola hits the stage at 10:15 or thereabouts. I'm still tired from the Pogues, but am alert enough to enjoy this non-stop 40 minute assault to the senses. Pretty much power-trio material with about 8 lines of throwaway vocals, so pretty much instrumental hard psyche rock music. Good stuff, not memorable, but there is some potential here.

Kuschty Rye Ergot - A little more interesting sound with this band. A kind of spacey psychadelia that was even a bit grungy at times. The drummer for Kahoutek is in this band and that is a good anchor. I enjoyed the set, but it kind of ended with a thud as some feedback was out of control or they were out of time with this late starting show.

Flower Travelin' Band - This long running Japanese band is playing about five shows in the USA which is a first and maybe a last? So this one was a must-see for me. They had a great fusion of styles beginning in Psychedelia and including jazz, blues, rock and maybe a bit of Japanese traditional sounds. I heard nice rhythms, a singer that could hit Robert Plante notes, and the best sitarla player I have ever seen (check it out on their site). This band was on Atlantic Records once in the day, so it's nice that they were finally able to make it over on this side of the Pacific. Nice to see a packed house for the show, albeit in the tiny Velvet Lounge--a small club, but one with good taste.

No pithy quotes, comments or stories happened to me tonight. I will have to remember that when two or three happen to save them for these occasions. That may be taking journalistic license, but hey this is a blog. It is the 21st Century of storytelling.