Blitzen Trapper: I missed a few songs from their set and I sincerely regret that. I had a few songs of these guys on my computer from senior year at Jesuit, but I didn't get too excited about them at the time and never really went back. Well, they were really fun to see live. Very energetic and dynamic. Their songs were pretty spastic but on most you could hear some country, Americana roots and I dug them a lot. They have a new CD coming out in June and its supposed to be really good. I met Brian the drummer after the show and I guess I was right in thinking they were a Portland band. He was super-friendly.
Rating: mMGravy
Heartless Bastards: I had just read reviews of these guys before going, so I was way off-base in telling Ken I thought they were supposed to be Death Cab-y. Not at all. The first two songs were very simple and boring, but I guess it was a pump fake because the rest of the set was good bluesy garage rock with some great singing from frontwoman Erika Wennerstrom. Rachel called it as like Yeah Yeah Yeahs and at the time I said yeah but without the insanity but I should have added without a great guitarist. The drums and bass seemed pretty utilatarian and unspectacular, but I thought everything added together really well. I'm definitely picking up their newest CD. Oh yeah, the violinist for that one song walked by us and I said good job and he said you too.
Rating: mMGravy-mMmGravy
The Hold Steady: Great show, great deal. These guys were made to see live and they didn't disappoint. Hell, they didn't want to stop playing. Craig Finn is thrilled to be a rock star, at whatever level he is, and he led his band through a really tight, fun set. He danced and jived and wanted us to know all the words. Of course, I was a scenester and hadn't listened to their first two CDs before I went, so while I liked all the songs that were new to me, none were as loved as much as those from their newest CD Boys and Girls in America. Stuck Between Stations, Chips Ahoy, First Night, Massive Nights, You Can Make Him Like You, Southtown Girls: they were all fantastic. Oh yeah, and we saw Franz, the suited, mustachioed keyboardist after the Arcade Fire concert. What a funny guy. Five song encore? Wild. They were too eager to come back on too. What a lovable pack of guys.
Rating: MMGravy-MMmGravy
3 comments:
I gotta say, I dug Boys and Girls in America fine and dandy before the show, but those songs really were just made for a performance. As much as I whine whenever bands don't change their songs a bit, they really did manage to pump new life in them.
And that lead singer (Craig Finn, I assume) looked like he was on speed the whole time. Nice.
1. how did i not know that his name is Craig FINN??? we could be related!?!?!
2. i don't understand this rating system at all...is more mmm's better?
-rachel
if i remember correctly, its a scale out of 100. if you have Gravy, that's 40%. each big M is 20 in addition. a little m in front of a big M is 10, and a little m after a big M is five. yeah. uh, and there is no way to differentiate between 45% and 50%. which is the only flaw in clearly the greatest rating system ever conceived of on this blog.
also, i think if its less than 40%, Gravy gets a negative in front of it. ie, Nickleback's latest pile of shit= Booger-filled, Blood-encrusted, Semen Gravy.
ps
scott is too big of a sissy to use it.
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