Mother Mother/Paul Michel/We Were Pirates - Rock'n'Roll Hotel - August 29 2009

We Were Pirates - They were power-pop. Well, a bit more thoughtful and introspective rather than the sunny, happy faced style I suppose. A little jangle present and really good vocals from the guitarist (later he switched to bass) with the bassist doing some nice backing vocals. Decent enough songs and ultimately a nice set. A band I would be happy to see again.

Paul Michel - Didn't I just see this duo? I did. The duo is back and in a bit more control of the computer. Live, there is a guitar, a drummer and both sing. On computer, there are bass lines and some keyboards or electronica. Although I am not a fan of computer music, I will say that having a live drummer makes it much more acceptable to me. It depends on the style of the music, too, and this rocking songwriter style is an odd one to rely on computers. But it works well enough and I thought this set was a little stronger than the last. I will stay tuned.

Mother Mother - This is a five piece with core instruments and the women vocalists playing keyboards part of the time. The bass player stepped up with a sax and clarinet a couple of times which was nice. The music was interesting hard pop. I have trouble pegging it which is a good thing. It reminds me of Abba and the B-52s playing more like the Dickies. Well, that ain't it, but I enjoyed trying to dream up a descriptor as much as I enjoyed the music. A good, fresh take on pop music, somewhat danceable, but more designed just to emit energy and connect with the audience. And I have not yet seen a smaller crowd as into a band as I had seen tonight. The club was only a little more than half full, but the fans were loud, knew the band's material and were more supportive than even a good metal crowd. This Vancouver band has been here three times and intimated that they would love to play here more were it not for the massive amount of land between here and Vancouver. Here is hoping they can grow there fan base and make that trip a little easier.

Quote of the night: From Paul Michel ' "our computer bass player is a real asshole..."