El Ten Eleven - Dosh - Baths -- Black Cat - Sep 13 2010

Baths - We begin with a one-man show featuring a guy on vocals in front of a table full of electronics featuring various samples, synth programs and drum machines. It started with a Big Black kind of barrage, but settled into something a bit dancier. Energized music, but I was not getting into it much. Do you know that flutter sound when a CD screws up in your machine? That was used often in the mixes of these songs. Unlike the interesting sound of scratching a vinyl record, this just annoyed me. There was some good dance sounds and the large crowd backstage was appreciative, but not dancing. It ran a good 37 minutes which felt like an hour to me. If I were forced to blame either the performer or my general lack of interest with this musical form, it is probably more on me than him. Still, this style can entertain me more than this.

Dosh - Another one-man show with samples and electronica, but he played a drum kit at times and a lot of keyboards. Instrumental action going on and the music was more flowing and melodic than the first act. This suits me far more and I was getting into the tunes. Good shifts and dynamics and some well thought out songs. A smooth, successful set which did not blow me away, but had me happy I came out tonight.

El Ten Eleven - A duo hits the stage. One guy plays drums throughout while the other plays bass a guitar/bass combo (like Boris) and a slew of pedals and electronica and even a bow! They have a screen showing one camera angle on his legs and pedal work. The songs are immediate, strong and catchy. Very good bass sounds and enough highs in the electronics to balance it out nicely. The drummer was rock steady without a ton of frills. You can dance to this music (and more people did) or just enjoy the strong sounds and good hooks in the music. There are good ways to perform electronic music live to those of us not predisposed to like a lot of it and El Ten Eleven succeeded for me. And playing a new song called "Ian MacKaye was Right" actually had me audibly chuckling.

Quote of the Night: From the headliner... "You guys are a lot more fun than Charlotte last night". I will assume he was talking about the city... and I will assume he was talking about the young crowd up front and not me hiding in the back.