Show of The Month
Port O’Brien / Rogue Wave
Bimbo’s 365 Club
San Francisco, CA
October 12, 2007
Bimbo’s, one of San Francisco’s most acclaimed nightclubs, played host to an Oakland-centric bill Friday. One stop into their national tour with Rogue Wave and promoting their first full-length album, The Wind and the Swell, Port O’Brien kicked the evening off on a strong note. Originally the solo project of frontman Van Pierszalowski, Port O’Brien’s songs reflect Pierszalowski’s childhood and summers spent on a fishing boat based in a small port town in Alaska. “Yes, I understand that I can not live on this land / Does that truly mean I have seen all that can be seen?” The seafaring nostalgia isn’t only evident in the lyrics but in the instrumentation as well. Now fleshed out by a full four-piece band, Pierszalowski’s raw acoustic guitar chords are joined with drums, bass, banjo and tambourine — and a guest saxophonist at this show. The music had a haunting, very organic folk-country feel to it, but what left a lasting impression were the vocals. At some points in the set, every member on stage was shouting out the lyrics in these anthem-like chants. At other times Pierszalowski’s voice would soar Cobain-like above the rest as a soul-piercing howl. However this was not a somber set in the least. The subdued tone and melancholy sound was heavily complemented by the band’s jovial stage presence. For their final song, Port O’Brien played crowd favorite “I Woke up Today” pulling out all the stops by inviting friends and fans on stage to sing and dance along to the performance. In that moment, the evening belonged to Port O’Brien.
 Rogue Wave made a less than triumphant entrance, taking the stage a bit late due to a delayed flight from L.A. that cost them their sound check. Though obviously a setback, the guys handled it well and jumped right into their set, asking the audience what needed to be adjusted after their second song. When introducing the band, frontman Zach Rogue took a minute to recognize that drummer Pat Spurgeon was alive and well thanks to a kidney transplant made possible in part by donations from fans and funds raised at a local relief benefit last year — a truly touching moment for many in attendance. The bulk of Rogue Wave’s set was dedicated to songs off their latest album, Asleep at Heaven’s Gate. This new material generally had a dreamlike quality to it, with lots of slow, sweeping melodies laid over simple but constantly rhythmic drumming that seemed to hold the crowd under a somnolent trance. The band also revisited a few old favorites including “Publish My Love,” “Bird on a Wire” from Descended Like Vultures and, much to Rogue’s humble hesitance, “Sight Lines” — a song written for Spiderman 3 that’s featured on the film’s soundtrack. Crediting Two Gallants for the idea, Rogue Wave descended into the crowd during their encore and played an acoustic sing-along in the middle of the sold-out Bimbo’s floor — an appropriately intimate moment for this hometown tour kickoff.
-Review by Nicole Sheikh; photo by Katherine Hoffert
Film School / The Hugs / Eulogies
Crocodile Cafe
Seattle, WA
October 10, 2007
Peter Walker, guitarist and lead singer for Eulogies, thanked the audience for coming out on a “lonely night.” For the Los Angeles band’s opening time slot, it was an apt greeting as only 10 people were in attendance at the start. Apropos of their funereal name, the band was decked out in matching black shirts. While their performance wasn’t exactly moribund, the only spark of energy seemed to be coming from bassist and backup vocalist Tim Hutton (who is not the actor of the same name).
 Unfortunately, Hutton’s likable enthusiasm and all of Eulogies’ slick promotional materials were in vain. The most interesting part of their performance was the slideshow projected on the front of Chris Reynolds’ kick drum.
In stark contrast, Portland’s The Hugs tore through their set with reckless abandon; when frontman Danny Delegato broke a guitar string on the fourth or fifth song, the only surprise was that it took so long. Sporting underage “X” marks on their hands and looking like they just had their braces removed, the band played with the sloppy confidence of a much more experienced, drinking-age (and drinking) band. They literally wore their British Invasion influences in the form of Rolling Stones and The Who apparel; ironically, the John Entwistle-style bass parts came from Stones hoodie-wearing Brendan Welch. Delegato and fellow guitarist Nicholas LoCascio form a yin-yang duo, with Delegato’s flailing, yelping and feedback-shot guitar throttling contrasted by Welch’s more controlled approach. With charisma, talent, boyish good looks and a freshly-inked recording contract, these kids are on the verge of a jump in exposure.
Headliners Film School, on a tour supporting their excellent new album Hideout, created their own lighting setup with footlights and rope lights placed around the floor of the stage. Enthusiastic supporters and family members filled out a much-increased crowd, which was enveloped in the band’s thick, loud, inviting sound. The mix throughout the show was flawless, thanks to The Crocodile’s venerable soundman Jim Anderson. Despite the band’s moody songs, these shoegazers hardly lived up to the insular, introverted implication of the genre’s name; they were relaxed and happy, joking with each other and addressing the audience with easygoing familiarity. Guitarist Dave Dupuis danced around the stage shaking his thick mop of curly hair, cardigan-clad frontman Greg Bertens held down center stage with occasional bursts of jumping or thrashing, and bassist/vocalist Lorelei Plotczyk was aglow in a white lace dress. An unpretentious performance from a friendly band with great songs and an ear-tickling sound equals perfection.
-Review and photo by Mike Baehr
Thao Nguyen /Arthur & Yu /Great Lake Swimmers
Café Du Nord
San Francisco, CA
October 14, 2007
San Franciscans who wanted to end their week with some folk pop music and enchanting songwriting headed to Café Du Nord for a Sunday night lineup that evoked the Summer of Love, campfires and geography.
Thao Nguyen opened the show with what would be the liveliest, most energetic performance of the night. Her voice, which has been compared to the likes of Chan Marshall and Fiona Apple, accompanied by her gritty guitar playing and impressive fingerpicking, kept the entire crowd on its feet from start to finish. Armed with her large acoustic and good friend Ezra Lipp filling in on drums, Nguyen played songs from her first album Like the Linen in addition to some crowd favorites like the clap-inducing “Feet Asleep” and “Geography.” Her friends Kacey Johansing (of local band Parasol) and Sarah Krebs joined the fun onstage for the last few songs, adding some backing vocals and dance moves to the set.
 Fronted by Seattle natives Sonya Westcott and Grant Olsen, Arthur & Yu transported the audience to the ‘60s during their middle slot. After only a couple songs, people began to sit down on the floor, as if at a bonfire watching their friends play. A combination of dream pop, folk and psychedelic garage rock, Arthur & Yu’s retro sound — often regarded for its similarity to The Velvet Underground and The Mamas and the Papas — held the seated crowd in a trance. With five people onstage (Dove Amber, Adam Howrey and Daniel Hunt make up the rest of the live band) and a plethora of instruments ranging from a Casio keyboard to a melodica, there was no shortage of visual or auditory stimulation.
A highlight of Arthur & Yu’s set, “Afterglow” summoned feelings of railroad trains and traveling on the road. With lyrics like “Train on the track / Put your matches in a stack,” one gets the idea that this was what they were aiming for. During “Come to View (Song for Neil Young),” Westcott’s melodica playing stole the performance and the duo’s complimentary vocals made for a playful summertime feel.
 Keeping the seated audience members on the floor, Canada’s Great Lake Swimmers closed with the most communal, silence-provoking set of the night. Initially, singer/songwriter Tony Dekker flew solo with his acoustic guitar, harmonica and hauntingly beautiful voice. The band then joined him onstage and together they played mostly songs off their latest album Ongiara. The subject matter of the Swimmers’ tunes centered on nature, love and geography, as evident in the lyrics to “Your Rocky Spine” which won the crowd favorite award: “I traced my finger along your trails / Your body was the map / I was lost in it.” The band also paid homage to Hank Williams by covering “The Angel of Death,” and by the end of the show, there was no clanking of glass or beer bottles to be heard. Instead an eerie calm pervaded that reflected the night’s music and ensured that those who came to unwind got what they wanted.
-Review by Jackie Miehls; photo by Joshua Uziel
The Girls / The Spits / The Black Lips
Crocodile Café
Seattle, WA
October 12, 2007
The Spits and The Black Lips played a sold-out show at The Crocodile Friday night on the first stop of their West Coast tour.
The Girls, indie glam-punk rockers from Seattle reminiscent of ‘70s groups like The Cars and Devo, opened up first with high energy and tight pants. Lead singer Shannon Brown carried the set with short, catchy vocals similar to those of their predecessors’ songs “Just What I Needed” and “Whip It,” while bassist Griff and guitarist Zache Davis made way for Brown’s energetic dance moves across the stage. Keyboardist Derek Mason and drummer Elie Goral kept the audience guessing with abrupt finishes and smooth transitions, so much so there was hardly time to breathe between songs. Before long, 30 minutes had passed and the crowd was revved up and ready for the next band.
“Hey guys, what time is it?” Spits bassist Erin Wood yelled as he ran onstage. Walls rattled as nearly everyone in the club shouted back, “It’s Spits o’clock!” This all-male group, also from Seattle, has been around since the early ‘00s but boasts a garage punk sound straight out of the ‘80s. Self-proclaimed as “Punk for the People,” keyboardist Darren Benson played dark synthesized beats from behind a silver hazmat suit while Wood and his brother, guitarist Sean Wood, soloed in matching trench coats, aviators and mohawks. Repetitive lyrics and crazy antics had beer spraying and fans crowd-surfing to the stage in no time, yet to a lesser degree than the tight-knit punk shows The Spits became known for at The Funhouse.
 The Black Lips ended the night with a Southern drawl straight from the heart of Atlanta. A younger version of The Spits, they too got the crowd going and spraying with their bluesy punk rock sound, living up to their reputation for out-of-control shows. Currently promoting the release of their fifth album, Good Bad Not Evil, Black Lips frontman Cole Alexander rocked the stage with his harmonica and lead vocals while bassist Jared Swilley and guitarist Ian Brown jammed catchy riffs from behind. Influenced by bands like The Sonics, The Black Lips’ chaos continued up to their last song “O Katrina,” a pop fan favorite written the night the group learned of the devastating events of Hurricane Katrina. Together, the three bands proved that Seattle will never tire of a tight punk line-up.
-Review by Jena Vuylsteke; photo by Talia Tupling
The A-Sides / The Velvet Teen /Say Hi (To Your Mom)
The Troubadour
West Hollywood, CA
October 18, 2007
Owning up to its reputation for launching the careers of countless musicians from Tom Waits to Guns N’ Roses, The Troubadour proved this Thursday that it’s still a hub of the independent music community; its friendly, good-natured crowd reflected the attitude-free vibe of the venue and the bands performing. Starting off the night were The A-Sides from Philadelphia, and if they were at all disheartened by the somewhat sparse crowd, their impassioned and haunting performance didn’t let it show. By the end, The A-Sides’ Walkmen-esque melodies and textured harmonies had grabbed the attention of everyone in the room, including the latecomers who now filled the club to near capacity. (Bonus points for being the only band to bring along their own stage decorations: a three foot tall illuminated letter “A” on the side of the stage.)
 Kicking off the second set of the night with a quick shout of “We’re The Velvet Teen from Sonoma County!!” to a cheering crowd, The Velvet Teen — though not the headliners — were clearly the band that much of the crowd had come to see. Their stage setup was simple, and the three musicians were so fully absorbed they seemed almost unaware that they were being watched. Singer Judah Nagler’s vocals shifted back and forth between raucous shouts and a singing voice startlingly reminiscent of Jeff Buckley, which he allowed to wander beautifully unrestrained. The juxtaposition of his varied vocal styles with the band’s driving, frenetic, and drum-heavy rock sound created an interesting dichotomy, and they were an energetic shot in the arm to an otherwise dreamy and introspective evening.
 Rounding out the night was Seattle’s Say Hi, in town to support the pre-release of their fifth album The Wishes and the Glitch. Known for unpredictable live shows, the band’s set on this particular evening was inarguably as tight as a drum. With very little between-song banter, Say Hi’s blazing performance was an intense and energetic interpretation of their traditionally melodic, lo-fi indie pop. Devoting the first half of their set entirely to new songs, they played to a rapt and enthusiastic crowd — most of which sang along throughout. Eric Elbogen (Say Hi’s only permanent member) was currently joined on this tour by former Mon Frere frontwoman Nouela Johnston on keyboard/ backup vocals, bringing new life to an already solid body of material and making for an especially captivating performance.
-Review by Jessica Watkins-McClain; photo by Melissa Kobe
Planes Over Bridges / My Revolver / Zodiac Death Valley / Th’Moonlight Sexy
Elbo Room
San Francisco, CA
October 24, 2007
“It’s a good Rocktober night,” Zodiac Death Valley frontman Niccolo Abodeely declared during his band’s middle slot. And a good Rocktober night it was, but like the shiftiness of the season, it took a few stabs before the rock daggers at the Mission District’s Elbo Room finally hit their mark.
Perched upon a stool with only an acoustic guitar in hand, Planes Over Bridges’ Mikey Pauker candidly opened the night with an engaging solo journey through soulful Jack Johnson pop territory and into Bright Eyes’ vulnerable folk valleys. Pauker even had an MC Lars moment with “Sugar Daddy” where he sang about being a college boy with ADD, tossing in some freestyling and shameless self-promotion. His ability to weave smooth vocals around percussive guitar rhythms, essentially carrying a melody with himself, made a cover of Radiohead’s “Lucky” (OK Computer) seem like a good idea, too. However, it fell flat in its delivery, hinting that the singer/songwriter’s influences are best kept on his sleeve.
Before Pauker's warm charisma had time to settle, the cold steel of My Revolver's balls-to-the-wall rock blasted the sweet face off the night. Mark Joseph's strained, yowling vocals were perhaps less grating than his forceful stage presence — and with two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer unleashing an onslaught of high-voltage rock behind him, the merciless attack grew overbearing and begged for variation. More breakdowns and builds would have given My Revolver the depth needed to match its intense exuberance.
Zodiac Death Valley swooped in next with an incredibly tight and well-tempered psychedelic rock set, showcasing some extraordinary musicianship on the part of all four of its players. The addition of keyboard was just what the night needed to balance out all the six-string madness, and Nate Ricker, pounding and plinking away, created the perfect accent to Abodeely’s deep masculine vocals. Though slightly swallowed up by the dense acoustics of the venue, Zodiac Death Valley’s sound beckoned the dark brilliance of “House of the Rising Sun,” incorporating bluesy rhythm guitar and separating the instruments now and then to keep the drive from becoming overpowering.
Opening with “Death Dogs,” Th’Moonlight Sexy took the reins from there and treated the crowd to some soulful crooning and seamless pop/rock songwriting. Throughout their set, frontman Josh Merry’s vocals flirted with contempt as he sang lines like, “Nobody loves me, but I’m loving somebody tonight” and added a new spin to Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me, Babe” that turned the assertion from apologetic to angry and made for an unsuspectingly powerful cover. Debuting a much more driving rock song, “That’s Not a Song, This is a Song,” and revisiting their old plastic surgery-inspired dance number “Swing Baby Swing,” the San Francisco foursome demonstrated some noteworthy range as well as their development as a band. They also revealed their knack for covers with “You’re Too Good to be True” — a song especially suited to their suave Southern souls. “Bohemian Apathy” and its catchy tempo changes brought their set and the night to an accomplished and climactic end.
-Katherine Hoffert
HIJK / Two Seconds / Rademacher
Rickshaw Stop
San Francisco, CA
October 11, 2007
Rickshaw Stop, located on the edge of San Francisco’s Tenderloin district, hosted a who’s who of Northern California indie rock on an unassuming Thursday this fall. Fresno’s Rademacher started the night off with pulsating beats laced around the mellow, hoarse vocals of Malcolm Sosa. With a slightly off-kilter yet amiable vibe given off by its mix of players, it was clear from get-go that Rademacher are in a musical world of their own. Circus-style beats intermingled with indie rock instrumentation as Rademacher wrestled up their own brand of catchy, Arcade Fire-esque songs with a deep soul. Perhaps it was their use of kids’ toys that charmed the audience the most. Though they appeared a bit novel at first, each toy instrument added a new and innovative sonic and visual element to the band’s live performance.
Female duo Two Seconds took the stage next and took the night in a new direction. Drummer Lily Faden and guitarist Sierra Frost’s upbeat punk-infused rock was a departure from Rademacher’s well-sewn textures and also leagues away the traditional indie rock of their other band, Elephone. Though they admit that they’re not perfect, Two Seconds sure do put in the effort and played an entertaining and interactive set by constantly communicating with the crowd. This brought an intimacy to their tough and gritty, Kathleen-Hanna-meets-The-White-Stripes sound, and created a natural bridge between the first and third act.
 HIJK, formerly Hijack the Disco, came onto the stage with a blaze of light and energy. The Oakland three-piece started off its set with a natural presence and enthusiasm that instantly engaged the crowd. The band skipped over the smoke and mirrors and broke the typical indie rock mold with its more art-prog tendencies and danceable tempos. Composed of just three members — Trevor Wencl on drums, Dave Tsui on vocals and guitar, and Mike Mahony on keys and bass — their sound achieved a very full and expansive quality. HIJK’s charismatic web of soaring melodies and infectious beats scored major points and together with the lively opening acts, made this ordinary Thursday not so ordinary after all.
-Review by Allison Bloch; photo by Joshua Uziel |
