Gringo Star at Black Cat
At first I had a hard time believing that this was the same band I saw before. They were so clean-cut before! All I can figure is that this was the end of their tour (13th show, I believe) and that noone remembered to bring a razor. This is the face of touring, folks.
Posted: 6/29/2014 at 9:00pm Tags: Backstage Black Cat Gringo Star
Dope Body at The Pinch
I've seen Dope Body play at larger venues in the past, but this time they headlined a show at a small venue which happens to be right near my apartment. Obviously I had to go check it out.
The show was in the basement of The Pinch, though it looks more like a garage to me. Sure enough this show had many of the qualities of a garage show including random crap on the floor and mics which went in and out. Despite these annoyances Dope Body put on a rather energetic and fun show just like last time at that big venue.
I have to say, though, that I really preferred the lighting at that big venue. The Pinch is pretty bright for a basement. That's better than the alternative. The problem is that the lighting is so even it's actually a bit dull. The colors aren't very impressive either. The lights are mostly white and the venue really does look like a basement! Oh well, at least the lighting didn't go in and out.
The Gloomy Ones at CD Cellar
The CD Cellar uses an old traffic light placed on the ground as their "stage lighting". Note that "stage" should be in its own set of quotes as there is no actual stage. Anyway, being lit from below makes bands look creepier. You know, it's the campfire ghost story look. So I figured it would be a great place to get some shorts of a band called "The Gloomy Ones".
Now, The Gloomy Ones do have a bit of horror-movie kitsch in their some of their surf-rock numbers, but they're not exactly hard-core about the whole "gloom" angle. You could dance to some of their peppier stuff, and I do mean actual dancing, not "shuffling while staring at one's feet" dancing. Then they also have some sci-fi inspired songs which vary from Man... or Astro-Man? style rockers (not very gloomy) to heavier and more contemplative stuff (okay, maybe as little bit gloomy). So in summary, The Gloomy Ones: lots of rock, not actually that much gloom.
Posted: 6/28/2014 at 3:00pm Tags: CD Cellar The Gloomy Ones
Superheaven at DC9
An awful lot of the on-stage banter during Superheaven's set was about their band's name. They had to change it recently for legalish reasons. No big deal to me, maybe a bigger deal to them, so be it.
I wonder though whether their new name was intended to sound similar to "Superunknown", the title of Soundgarden's biggest album. I didn't make that connection until, oh, about ten seconds into Superheaven's first song. More than anything else it's the guitars, that almost-metal wall of fuzz sound which pretty much defined grunge. Okay, that and all the flailing hair, but my point is that they're somewhere in the hard rock universe and tend towards the slower, distorted and crushingly heavy side. I do mean "tends", since they do have some songs with a bit more pep which are closer to punk (think Samiam), but they're mostly about the crushing.
Posted: 6/15/2014 at 11:00pm Tags: DC9 Superheaven
Nothing at DC9
A few songs into Nothing's set singer/guitarist Dominic Palermo asked the audience "How y'all doin tonight?" (or something like that). The response was raucous cheering, to which Palermo responded "No! Nobody could possibly be feeling that good." That pretty much summarizes what this band is all about. Someone in the audience: "I'm unemployed!" Palermo: "That's more like it." The Gloom Patrol strikes again.
