Openers. As a general rule of thumb they tend to be doomed. The crowd isn’t usually there to see them and this can lead to feelings of impatience amongst the audience. This was not the case last night at the Great American. I had never heard of or seen Sean Bones prior to last nights show. A quick Google image search led me to assume that this was going to be a Brooklyn based indie band with stupid instruments. This also, thankfully, was not the case.
My alcohol consumption has been at nil these days (going on a week strong, impressive). I’m trying to lose that last 20 pounds that surrounds my belly. So instead I popped a few pills last night. I was feeling great. So when Sean Bones got on stage I was ready to groove.
Fortunately for me Sean Bones was also ready to groove. Their sound can be best described as upbeat-punky-vibe mixed with poppy-reggaeness and a splash of straight up rock.
My friends (who were there for Dr. Dog) repeatedly inquired who this band was, because in spite of the soundboard not giving them love they were still fun to watch and listen to.
During their fourth song, “Dancehall,” I found myself audibly saying “Man” because it was real good. Had like an Oasis vibe to it. What I liked about Sean Bones the most was that they would transition from songs on the up beat to rocking out in the middle of a song. I’d have to admit I liked the rocking out portions far more than the on-the-up portions.
What was also nice to see was how much jumping and dancing around the stage the band members were doing. This makes me, as a concertgoer, think “Yes I should be jumping around too.” It seemed like a lot of the audience shared this thought as beers were being held up in reverence and people were generally having a great time.
The performance was overall pleasurable. Some songs brought down the energy and people started talking loudly, then Sean Bones would rock out and people would be jumping around. I think if the soundboard were dialed in more for these openers they would have been great. But such is the fate of the opener. I’d recommended checking Sean Bones at a venue near you.
After Sean Bones was the main act, Dr. Dog. My friends are die-hard fans of this band. Some of them have seen up to four shows at this point. This kind of thing makes me excited.
It may have been the pills, but from the first lick I was sold on Dr. Dog as a live act. Dr. Dog used the full emotive capacity of those sound waves emanating towards the crowd. I would have been dancing around harder if there were room.
The normal stand-with-your-arms-crossed-cuz-you’re-too-cool SF crowd was in minor attendance last night. This audience was here to sing along, clap, dance, scream, and have an excellent time listening to great music with friends. What more could you want?
I’ll have to admit, Dr. Dog tuckered me out. By the end of the show I kept thinking to myself, this must be the last song only to be proven wrong over and over. My body wanted to dance but I just couldn’t move anymore. Dr. Dog was putting me to shame.
They never lacked any energy or performance skills. Dr. Dog knew the crowd was there to see a great show and they delivered, graciously.
Seeing any band at the Great American is a treat. The venue is beautiful, the sound is awesome, and the crowd is generally great. When you have performances like the one Dr. Dog gave is when I am fully thankful to be in the Bay Area listening to live music.
