Three Imaginary Girls - Neumo's

CHBP 2011 preview: The crackling, illuminating Campfire OK Sunday 7/24 at Neumos

Chris Estey — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 21:55:08 +0000

Campfire OK photo by Jason Tang

Campfire OK seemed to come out of nowhere with an incredibly well played and passionate debut earlier this winter, Strange Like We Are. Its title track and others have been spun quite a bit on KEXP, the band has been given lots of attention by bloggers (most notably NPR, which did a feature on their excellent music and the meaning of the first album's intriguingly anthemic title track).

They are set to play Sunday, July 24 at the Block Party, at Neumos (21+), between 4:15 and 4:45 p.m. I email-spoke with the mysterious frontman and primary songwriter for Campfire OK, and we got all happily tangled together in the cyber-vines. He straightened out the bacon wrapped around the enigmas of their line-ups, college campus banning, and the meaning behind that darned catchy tune again. Imagine how much fun it will be when I get to chat with him in person at CHBP 2011!

TIG: As a noted "Capitol Hill band" is it a particular thrill to be playing the Block Party this year? Or is it more like just back porch fun for you at this point?

Mychal: We are all very excited, and feel honored to play the Block Party. Even though I live on Capitol Hill it definitely does not feel like back porch fun. It is one of those things that, when you first book the show, you are happy about it. Then as time passes, and you see how large of a number of people go to it, read about it, and research the bands playing, you feel more and more grateful. We are super pumped to be doing it.

Friday's recommended shows: Kurt B. Reighley, Cataldo, Wheedle's Groove and more!

imaginary victoria — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 21:30:13 +0000

It's another lace-your-sneakers up kind of Friday here in Seattle -- so go get those kicks out of the back of your closet and get ready to hit the town.

Kurt B. Reighley's reading / booksigning at Elliott Bay Bookstore

Prefunk your Friday night right with a stop at Elliott Bay Bookstore in Capitol Hill around 7p. That's where you'll find our good pal Kurt Reighley (who you may also know as DJ El Toro from KEXP) reading selected sections from his new book, United States of Americana: Backyard Chickens, Burlesque Beauties, and Handmade Bitters: A Field Guide to the New American Roots Movement. Come early, get a good spot, and get your listen on -- and while you won't need an ID to get into this one, make sure you bring wallets along so you can pick up a copy.

Cataldo at the High Dive

We recently heard from Matt Bishop, lead singer / songsterer extraordinaire from the alt.orchestra-pop outfit Hey Marseilles, who recommended we take a moment out of our busy imaginary days to give the band Cataldo a listen -- and we're sure glad we did! Cataldo's sparse-but-loaded, sometimes twangy, always heartstring-yanking sound swept us right off our Mary Jane-wearin' feet. We can't wait to dig on the live show at the High Dive after Kurt's book party -- get there early to check out the warmups, as Red River and Drew Victor open.

If that doesn't suit your taste, mosey on over to check out Wheedle's Groove at Neumo's or "The Best of the New" at Columbia City Theater -- both are guaranteed to get your weekend started right. Wheedle's Groove will be taking the stage with DJs Mike Nipper and Marc Muller from the Emerald City Soul Club, putting on a night to remember as a fundraiser for Mother Maxine Hill. (Mother Maxine passed away recently, and funds are being raised to help cover the family's medical and funeral expenses.)

Out the other end of town, you can check out an awesome gig over at Columbia City Theater, where great new sounds from Lemolo, Kimo Muraki, Luke Stevens, Kirsten & Travis, Bryan John Appleby, and Youth Rescue Mission will be bringing the bliss -- for free. That's a lot of band for no bucks!

Rad bands for a great cause: the NFTN 2010 lineup

imaginary victoria — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 09:48:45 +0000

{photo credit: the lovely Laura Musselman, courtesy of our imaginary flickr pool}

Now that we're all done with Sasquatch, it's time to set our sights on the next raddest lineup to hit the west coast: it's Noise for the Needy, 2010 edition. There's close to seventy-five bands and djs playing a baker's dozen of venues next weekend, when NFTN takes over every corner of Seattle from June 9th (Thursday) through the 13th (Sunday). Among the notables in big font this year are John Vanderslice, Visqueen, Horse Feathers, Delta Spirit, the Maldives, The Album Leaf, Animals at Night, The Portland Cello Project, and The Redwood Plan -- along with enough supporting acts to make your head spin. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets, or you can just buy a la carte at each show / venue -- although there's some sweet all-access wristband deals being offered if you want to rock it like that.

Beach House: Teen dream, indeed

Chelsea Werner — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:36:35 +0000

12 Apr 2010

{Photo: Suzi/Spratt 504}

Before the band came out on stage Monday night, Neumos looked like a high school gym after a dance- lot's of tinsel. Unlike the sad charm of an empty gymnasium, this show was sold out. As the band began and a green light hit the stage, and the reflective nature of tinsel became the perfect set décor for the self-reflection they induce. Beach House is a band that allows the listener to glean their own impressions from their songs and carve out moments of personal meaning.

This being the case, my balcony corner seemed more like a lonely wallflower perch where “Better Times” transformed into a couples-skate-only. Though there weren't any roller skates. Or room enough for a couple to dance for that matter. “Zebra” captured the feeling that came along with the lovely vocal harmonies of the band, the adolescent hope we won't all become separate and lonely beings eventually. Something that Legrand drove home when she introduced “Silver Soul” by saying that touching strangers is great. Something that Beach House's music is adept at. Yet, everyone seemed to want their space, their time to feel like they were the only people in the room being sung to, the only person struggling with not being “the same as they used to be.”

An apocalyptic beginning to “Master of None” was permeated by streams of white light hitting the demure band members, Victoria Legrand's occasional, singular, head bang being the most movement on stage. Perhaps it was the band, paying such rapt attention to their instruments, that somehow I felt left out. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has felt jealous of Legrand's keyboard, but when it comes down to it, Beach House was not a spectacle. It was more of a time for introspection and for this reason, not to mention the rib shaking waves of drone washing over the audience, Victoria Legrande, guitarist Alex Skully and live drummer, Dan Franz had a powerful hold over the audience.

At the end of the set, as the disco ball began to spin during “Take Care,” that high school dance I never got asked to came back to mind and the song felt full of the youthful naivety that things can last forever, a tragic faithfulness to a blind commitment. In the end, even though I walked home alone, not all was an outcast's imprint on the show. I was saved some runny eyeliner by the epic encore of “10 Mile Stereo” ending a night that I'm sure was an individual experience for ever single body in the fulled-to capacity Crystal Ball Reading Room this Monday.

{Photo: Suzi/Spratt 504}

Photo of the day: A Place to Bury Strangers at Neumo's

imaginary liz — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 14:20:14 +0000

I think everyone's ears might still ringing from Saturday's The Big Pink and A Place To Bury Strangers show at Neumo's... in the best way possible. I love how jandrew33 captured the mesmerizing A Place To Bury Strangers set with this shot. Big thanks to him for adding to the TIG Flickr Photo Pool.

Have you recovered from the show and ready to head out this week? There are a bunch of options... my favorite being tonight's White Stripes film showing (FREE!!!) at the Crocodile. Other options over the next couple days include:

Tonight's recommended show: Imaginary SXSW sendoff at Neumo's!

imaginary victoria — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:42:46 +0000

It's finally here! Tonight's the big night, and we hope you'll all be joining us for our very imaginary SXSW sendoff hootenanny at Neumo's! Doors are at 8, and tickets are going fast -- so make sure you get down there early.

We've told you about Fences, Mash Hall and Hey Marseilles over the last few days, and now it's time to give you some scoop on our headliner: Visqueen. Bringing big guitars, tight vocals, and catchy songwriting to the stage for as long as our imaginary hearts knew how to swoon, Visqueen is jumping on the success of their last album Message to Garcia and taking the show on the road. Literally.

March 13   Boise, ID @ the Record Exchange
March 13   Boise, ID @ Neurolux
March 14   Denver, CO @ Lion's Lair Lounge
March 16-21 SXSW
March 22   Tuscon, AZ @ Plush
March 23   Las Vegas, NV @ Thunderbird Lounge

Let's start them (and the rest of our fabulous favorite-ist bands) out right with a Seattle-worthy farewell tonight -- we'll see you all there!

Countdown to our imaginary SXSW sendoff -- we love you, tomorrow

imaginary victoria — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:37:01 +0000

Well, we love you all the time. In the most appropriate of imaginary ways, of course. But right now we love you a little bit extra for all the love you're showing for Friday's lineup -- tickets are selling like hotcakes! Sweet, indie-rock singin' neckerchief wearin' hotcakes.

Speaking of sweet, we wanted to give you a little more lowdown on Hey Marseilles, third up on tomorrow's bill. As we've gushed over them time and time again, this is for sure the best alt.indie.orchestral septet in town -- in fact, they're soon to be the best seven-piece on both coasts because they're embarking off on an east coast tour leading up to their dates in Austin for this year's SXSW.

Check it out!

March 7   Putnam Den, Saratoga Springs NY
March 8   Rockwood Music Hall, New York NY
March 9   TT the Bear's [swoon!], Cambridge, MA
March 10 Higher Ground, Burlington, VT
March 11-12 Canadian Music Fest, Toronto, Ontario
March 18 SXSW
March 19 SXSW
March 20 SXSW
March 25 Mississippi Studios, Portland, OR

Countdown to our imaginary SXSW sendoff -- only three days left!

imaginary victoria — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 18:23:22 +0000

Mash Hall and Fences are the first bands on the bill this Friday at Neumo's, and trust us when we tell you: you're going to want to be there early enough to catch both of their sets. Seriously.

Having gone through some positive shake-ups as of late -- Mash Hall with a moniker change, and Fences with some rad additions to their lineup -- these two local favorites are polishing up their best shoes and bringing us a taste of what they've got in store for Austin (and the rest of 2010). Make sure you come check them both out this Friday -- and in the meantime, here's a peek at some recent creative output from these two local favorites.

{PS: Tickets are only $10 and they're going fast -- take advantage of the pre-show price and pick yours up today!}

Win tickets to this Friday's SXSW sendoff show at Neumo's!

imaginary victoria — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:54:45 +0000

Come and get your gee-haw on this Friday night at Neumo's -- on us!

That's right, we're giving away a pair of tickets to the show of the week, our very own SXSW 2010 Sendoff! You can rage along to Visqueen's big guitars, swoon to the orchestral-pop melodies of Hey Marseilles, get your groove on with Mash Hall, and warm your night up right with Fences -- all under one roof! (And PS -- tickets are only ten dollars in advance. Ten! It's a steal at twice the price!)

Just send an email to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com with the subject line, "Let'sGetReadyToSX!" by this Thursday, March 4th at 10am, and tell us why you and your +1 should be our lucky guests.

Good luck -- we'll see you all at the show!

Win tickets to We Were Promised Jetpacks at Neumo's

imaginary victoria — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:06:52 +0000

As you shake free from your mandatory PNW hibernation, you've undoubtedly caught wind of all the rad lineups coming our way as the first whiffs of spring tour sneak up on us. And next week is bringing one of the first post-winter shows to Seattle that we're really beside ourselves about -- those gorgeously accent-laden Scottish sad bastards We Were Promised Jetpacks will be hitting the stage at Neumo's on Tuesday, March 2nd.

(Yes, next week is March. Already. Yikes!)

Let's send off some of Seattle's finest to SXSW in style on March 5

imaginary victoria — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 16:05:57 +0000

Three Imaginary Girls, The Stranger, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Neumo's are proud to present Hootenanny! -- our very own SXSW sendoff party for 2010 -- with Visqueen, Hey Marseilles, Mash Hall (formerly known as They Live!), and Fences on Friday, March 5th at Neumo's.

It's that time of year again, kids -- where we all steel ourselves for some couchsurfing, and start making our wishlists for the bands we can't miss -- yes, it's time to head down to Austin for SXSW 2010! And to celebrate, we'd love for you to join our sendoff party at Neumo's on Friday, March 5th. Come join us as we wish our favorite ladies and gents well before they hit the road... tickets for this 21+ show are only $10 in advance and $12 at the door.

Expect a downright rager of a night, with local big-guitar all-stars Visqueen headlining the bill, and Hey Marseilles bringing their lush, alt.indie.orchestral songwriting skills to the stage. On top of that magic, Mash Hall and everyone's favorite Fences will be rounding out the opening support -- doors are at 8pm and you won't want to miss a minute of this lineup. So make sure you're on the hill nice and early!

Tonight's recommended show: St. Vincent at Neumo's!

imaginary victoria — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:24:34 +0000

So if you haven't caught wind of it yet, St. Vincent will be coming through town tonight to blow the doors off of Neumo's with their sweet layercake of daydreamy, lushy melodies. It's actually the first US show of their national tour, which heads down the left coast for stops in PDX and a few nights in California before a cross-country visit to our friends out east (hi, 9:30 Club!).

As if the alt.indie.orchestra.ish appeal of St. Vincent wasn't enough to get you out the door tonight, the show's also going to get lit up with some love from one of our favorite locals, Fences. Rumor has it that they'll be warming up the stage around 9, so don't wait around too long to hit the show!

(It's hip to be early sometimes, Seattle. And to stand up front for a killer show. And even to take your hands out of your pockets and dance a little. I promise.)

Here's a taste of tonight's lineup:

We'll see you at the show!

Photo of the day: Hey Marseilles and the Sugarplum Elves at Neumo's last Friday

Jason Tang — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:15:24 +0000

During The Maldives' sold-out Christmas party at Neumo's last Friday, Hey Marseilles was joined on stage by the Sugarplum Elves for a holiday medley super jam to close out the set.

And aren't we a lucky bunch, the Sugarplum Elves will be joining us at the Imaginary Winter Holiday Spectacular this Wednesday {December 23} at Chop Suey. They'll be hanging out with Santa and joining in all the fun.

The rest of the photos from the set can be viewed here.

Everything Thermals: Catch the Thermals twice this weekend!

imaginary keenan — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:00:26 +0000

If you are a Thermals obsessive like many of us at TIG (check!), then you've probably been counting down to this weekend for months (like me). This weekend provides you with not one but two nights to see my favorite live band ever, The Thermals: Saturday night at Neumo's for KEXP's Yule Benefit (sold out, 21+ with the Cave Singers, the Builders and the Butchers, and Grand Hallway) and an all ages NOT SOLD OUT show at the Vera Project on Sunday (I'm pretty sure it's been at least since Fuckin' A just barely came out that they've played at Vera). I've often spouted on forever about how Thermals shows are better than therapy, and how it's impossible not to leave sweaty and bruised with a giant grin on your face. So pull out your deads roots and pull out your best suit and get ready to have fun. See you up front

Tonight's recommended show: Mew at Neumo's

imaginary victoria — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 20:17:24 +0000

Mew. The Lonely Forest. All ages. Tonight. Neumo's. Fourteen bucks. What else do you need to know, really?

Well, here's what they've got to say for themselves, for starters:

Whilst their music may be classified as indie and on occasion (like on And the Glass Handed Kites) progressive rock, they sometimes humorously refer to it themselves as "pretentious art rock". The band's guitarist Bo Madsen refers to the band as "the world's only indie stadium band".

Indie stadium eh? Well, we're all for it. Check it out for yourself here:

And here:

A little bit of that with a little bit of The Lonely Forest, and you've got your Thursday night wrapped up easy-peasy. 'Nuff said.

We'll see you at the show!

Tonight's recommended shows: openers, awesomeness & charity!

imaginary victoria — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:42:03 +0000

Got your running shoes handy? No, not your Chucks. I mean the ones that you lace up to go the distance. Yes, I know they're buried in the bottom of your closet. We'll wait.

Okay, good. Now, get your favorite socks on warm up those calves -- there's too much good stuff going on around town tonight for you to hit just one show. For starters, the opening set at Neumo's tonight will be a great place to pre-funk. I'm sure that Justin Nozuka is a tremendous headline, but our sources from back east swear that Elizabeth & the Catapault will be the glimmer in our proverbial eyes for the designated warmer-upper of the evening. The Brooklyn based singer-songwriter will be unleashing her endearing, charming ways on the earlybirds that make their way down to Neumo's tonight, and you'll be doing yourself a favor by making it the first stop of your night.

After that, it could go either way -- if you don't stay for the rest of the show at Neumo's, you have your pick of two not-to-be-missed performances going on that you can shuffle to your liking. The first would be making sure to see most, if not all, of Kay Kay & his Weathered Underground's headlining set at the Tractor. It's no secret that our very own ChrisB hearts them to no end, as stated in his loving and well-thought commentary on a past show: What makes Kay Kay such a special band is that there are not any limitations imposed on the music. When you listen to them, you hear elements of vaudeville, ragtime, psychedelic rock, show tunes, Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles, and anything else they can find under the kitchen sink. It’s like they raided their parents’ and grandparents’ record collections and ignored much of their own. All that, and the fact that Hey Marseilles' Sam Anderson hails as a member of their repertoire, makes this a win-win-win.

The other big sha-bang happening this evening is the benefit show for the recent GIVE compilation that was released, with a line-up to beat the, um -- band. Or something. Anyhow -- have a look at this: on one bill, for charity, and at a mere fifteen bucks [!!!], you can catch Grand Archives, D. Black, Kinski, Grant Olsen (of Arthur and Yu), Gabriel Mintz, Tilson (of the Saturday Knights), Fences [swoon], and the Tea Cozies. Really, that's less than a dollar a band member, if you splice it out the right way. And even at twice that, it's a better-than-fair price for a best-of-the-best kind of show.

So, bundle up tonight and hit the town -- whether you go Neumo's > Tractor > Croc, or Neumo's > Croc > Tractor > Croc, pick one to hit up with your birds and bliss the night away. With all this talent, you're sure to get a win no matter what venue(s) you choose!

Tonight's recommended show: Blind Pilot at Neumo's

imaginary victoria — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:11:37 +0000

They're playing our song / Can you see the lights? / Can you hear the hum? / Of our song / I hope they get it right...

Talk about shooting a big bag of sad bastard.

For a mere twelve dollars, you can shimmy your way in to Neumo's tonight for a PDX double-header -- and have your insides slayed by Blind Pilot, a band I've been in love with since I first heard Cheryl Waters spin them on KEXP's Midday show. I keep a running list radio-side to make sure I remember bands that catch my attention, to reference later through playlists and MySpaces and the good (or indifferent) word of friends and music enthusiasts alike. And in the course of that first week I heard Blind Pilot over the airwaves, I wrote them down three different times. Three. That hasn't happened since... maybe Luke Temple, or the first time I heard Devin Davis. Anyway -- one's enough to notice, and two times is a trump card... but three hits? That's a non-negotiable. That means immediate procurment of tickets, albums, and anything I can get my hands on.

The title track off of Three Rounds and a Sound is my hands-down my favorite, but here's another goodie that made the list that week:

And not to that the lovely Laura Veirs will be holding second slot at the show, which makes the whole thing worth it at twice the price.

Hope to see you there!

Recommended show: Pinback at Neumo's on Tuesday, November 10th

imaginary victoria — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 05:30:40 +0000

Basically, Pinback is one of those bands that can do no wrong. At least in my musical world, where they live lodged firmly between bearded, haunted, sad-bastard notebook lyrics and dirty, gritty indie rock. Their bass-laden double front-man performances, both in the studio and on the stage, are really a feast for the ears -- Pinback and Autumn of the Seraphs were two of the albums I picked up as "must-haves that I had somehow missed" this past year and both have been in heavy rotation since.

Their current tour is stopping through town tomorrow night at Neumo's, where you can get a slice of this magic first-hand {$17 adv., $20 dos}. For our PDX friends, it looks like the tour stops in town the following night, with plans for San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego before a cross-country jump to New York on the 22nd.

As the officials put it, they're "infectious," "dreamy," and "not to be missed." I couldn't agree more.

Here's a video for "From Nothing to Nowhere" off of AotS:

And "Fortress" off of Summer in Abbadon (with some really fantastic animation):

Hope to see you at the show!

The Dirty Projectors stun Neumos with their intricate beauty

Imaginary Shrie — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:54:37 +0000

4 Nov 2009

Angel Deradoorian, Amber Coffman and Haley Dekle must be angels. There is no other way to describe their other-worldly harmonies. Their voices are Coco Rosie-esque at times, a moving and lilting choral pop display. Instead of traditional dueting harmonies, the three ladies voices are orchestrated into something resembling more of an instrument, and less three individual voices. David Longstreth made a very wise decision in adding them to the Dirty Projectors family. When I saw DP in '06 sometime at a super small club in Texas, it was just him and a guitar and a disturbingly enthralling video that was projected (heheh) onto a wall behind the stage. The performance bordered on the avant-garde, but I'm happy to say that seeing them in '09 was a completely different experience.

Little Wings, the project of Kyle Field, was the sole opening act for Dirty Projectors. Breezy and pastoral, akin to his seaside hometown of San Luis Obispo , Field's music as Little Wings is sprawling. Little Wings is basically a man and his guitar, crooning warm and breezy alt-country with a pinch of cheer. His songs took on more of a narrative style, often prophetic, reminiscent of old country standards. His performance was engaging and possibly poignant, but the loud crowd chatter that swelled during the middle of his set made it difficult to fully absorb what you were hearing.

Dirty Projectors finally came onstage to a sweating mass of people in the crowd, uncomfortably jammed up against each other. David Longstreth's voice is piercingly beautiful and surprisingly odd at the same time. After listening to their newest record, Bitte Orca , I was certain that the sounds I heard couldn't be produced live, assuming that the overall aesthetic was very much a product of in-studio knob twiddling. Live, however, they nailed it. The ladies let their voices fly to the very top of the ceiling, maxing out at an ungodly soprano range. Longstreth played his right-handed guitar left-handed, his hands both plucking wildly at the strings. His finesse on the guitar is unbelievable: lightning quick fingers racing along the strings, intricate rhythms perfectly played and an almost classical Spanish guitar technique.

It was obvious early on that this six-piece was a well-oiled machine. The punchy drumming collided with Longstreth's angular guitar playing and the trio of femme's ethereal vocals to form a purposefully disjointed and experimental, sound. Their rhythms are unpredictable and changed time signature multiple times during the length of any given song. From spare vocals over a simple bass line to a full-on onslaught of brash noise and off-kilter harmonies, they somehow sounded completely practiced, appropriate and complex. Every note was strong and confident, their eccentric sound giving them freedom to abandon traditional song structure.

They played an encore, of course (doesn't EVERY show get an encore these days?) to the packed crowd uproariously calling for more. And I can't blame them... I couldn't get enough of their weirdness, their strangeness, their intense interlocking rhythms that get stuck in my head. The Dirty Projectors are truly an experimental band, but judging from the crowd last night, they can also be dance-worthy, tear-soaked and absolutely stunning.

How post-punks like their post-punk: ... And You Will Know Us By the Trail Of Dead and Future of the Left

Graham Isaac — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:10:29 +0000

13 Oct 2009

futureoftheleft.jpg

You know a show’s crowd is divided when the headliners set is met with as many folded arms and quizzical looks as the openers. Or when aforementioned openers set boasts a more consistently full-up room, while the headliners suffered a fair amount of crowd attrition as the night went on. This last bit could easily be due to the fact that it was a work/school night and the morning is a cruel mistress, but either way, the . . . And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead/ Future of the Left show proved an interesting study in how post-punks like their post-punk.

Do you go for the wiry, brawny, start-and-stop (Gang of Four meets Jesus Lizard meets um, them) antics of Cardiff’s Future of the Left? Or do you like your vocals a bit more earnest, build-ups a bit more epic? If so, you were probably there for Austin’s . . . Trail of Dead.

Not that the two didn’t share any fans; there were more than a few people in the crowd who seemed well familiar with both outfits material and pumped their fists to both. FOTL were the designated openers of this tour, and their set was largely the same as their set at the Capitol Hill Block Party, focusing largely on their most aggressive material, even eschewing video-sporting sing-along “The Hope That House Built” in favor of songs singer Andy Falkous could chew the words and spit out in hoarse screams. “Manchasm” remained dancy even through its raw-throated delivery while set-opener “Arming Eritrea” was even more anthemic than on record. What crowd-members they couldn’t win over with their massive bass lines were converted by the bands’ banter (“We are allotted a certain amount of time in which to play and no amounts of irrelevant platitudes shouted from the crowd can change that. You’ve been a lovely audience, even though many of you are wearing hats indoors”) and by the time they closed with the 8 minute plus “Cloak the Dagger” they were covered in enough sweat to win a wet t-shirt contest.

After the Welsh trio’s display of poise and energy, the six-or-seven (depending on the song) . . . Trail of Dead’s material felt a bit staid and almost formal. Not for a lack of energy; the band opened with “Will You Smile Again” and immediately had a cadre of hardcore fans singing along. TOD varied between their new record and cuts from Source Tags and Codes, bringing the wash of sound with “It Was there that I Saw You” and during a raucous performance of “Caterwaul” (I swear I didn’t remember the song being that heavy on record) Jason Reece leapt into the audience while singing, made his way to the bar and did a shot of jager before finishing the song. Still, after a while of double-trap snare fills, piano breakdowns and clanging climaxes, the songs sounded strangely more samey than on record, not less. Which is a problem. It didn’t suck, by any stretch, but despite their evident passion, TOD are hardly the only band around going for Big, Sweeping Songs. But for the most part TOD were on their game. One only hopes that next time FOTL come to town they can play a longer set, and that maybe TOD can capitalize on their re-energized state with a few songs that strike closer to the bone. And that neither arrive on a work night.

Photo by Spratt504 from the TIG Flickr Pool.