ON AN ON - Savoir Adore -- Rock'n'Roll Hotel - Apr 4 2013

Savoir Adore - This Brooklyn duo (with three more in the band) has been around a while and has opened quite a few ears along the way. They opened mine tonight with a 47 minute set of smooth and luscious pop music with plenty of bite underneath. They had drums, bass, a couple of guitars, keyboards with the primary duo handling lead vocals with great trade-offs and harmonies. It was a striking look in all white clothing that I had not seen since the days of the Buddhist punk band, Ruin... (was not quite old enough for Marc Bolan's John's Children). The steady drums and throaty bass added just enough guts to the attractive sheen of the involved melodies weaving away on top. This is dance music for me with lots of complications stirring the emotions above the beat and a look that intrigues me far more than the one guy bobbing his head fiddling with ac computer and some buttons. There was drama in the music with delicacy in the vocals and this was a set to savor. Years ago, New York critics said this was a band to watch. OK, I am all eyes now, so pass it on.

ON AN ON - This Chicago/Minneapolis quartet begins an east coast tour tonight that will keep them busy all month before they head off to Europe in May. Not bad, for a band touring their debut album, although there is no sign that they are merely warming up here as the first song rocks out with both finesse and great heart. They have much of the same sound as the first band tonight, thus making this an ideal package. However, when they push the rock element, they are even heavier and this is where they shine brightest. They pull it back a bit on some songs and although the variety is nice, the songcraft does not quite hold up as well. But they bounce back with something hearty and full of hooks that really stands out with utter brilliance. Imagine some sort of U2/Muse/Animal Collective collective dialed down to club level. I am not sure that is it, but it is hard to pin down exactly how this works, other than the simple case of when this fine band presents their best songs, they can be amazing. I sense the crowd picked up on this as the songs I really liked were met with much more response than the lesser material. So although it may not be all the way here yet for this band, this is an excellent start as the overall effect was a success tonight.

Quote of the Day: And from Football365.com, we get yet another fine example of the British Press's paraphrasing skills on the respective top German and English football leagues in this case.

Reports The BBC Website: 'Former England international Owen Hargreaves believes that the Bundesliga is outpacing the Premier League...

Actual quotes from Owen Hargreaves: "I think there's room for improvement, but to say the Bundesliga is better than the Premier League is not a fair assessment."