Unrest -- Black Cat - July 10 2010

Unrest - Unfortunately, with two great shows tonight, I had to miss the opening bands which were probably pretty good at this anniversary tribute show to Teen-Beat records, a historically important DC label. No surprise that Unrest played as they pretty much founded the label. I arrived to hear ten songs plus the encores. The show was a late sell-out, but there was room to get a good view--thus enforcing my belief that the Black Cat is the most comfortable place to be for a sold-out show (aside from seated clubs). Unrest is only doing a few east coast shows for this anniversary, so one never knows if this is the last chance to see them. So there was plenty of enthusiasm in the air and the band delivered. They have a quirky style that moves from post-punk rock like Wire to odd pop songs to moody ambient pop. You can put them somewhere in the small space between the Velvet Underground and the Feelies, but I definitely felt the Wire connection (which was true of many classic DC bands). I enjoyed the set and am finally glad to have seen them, after hearing them only on vinyl, many, many years ago.