I was one grumpy bitch last night. The minute I left the house I knew it was bad news. But my brother was in town from Davis, so I dragged him along with me. When we were kids, and as he’s my younger sibling, there’s a long history of me pulling him with me to all the random shows I wanted to see growing up in the city. He even said the last time he thinks he went to a show was in 1999, and it was with me to some random whatever. I guess I have to drag him, because he sure won’t go on his own.
We get to The Fillmore and I’m cursing Friday night partiers. But at least coming into the show, we were welcomed by pretty music. Now I don’t know if I’m just beyond deaf, but I never heard him introduce himself. All the researching around on the internet is for naught. Which is totally a shame, as he was that perfect kind of sing you to sleep music. And I’m pretty picky when it comes to those things, I have my favorites: Mazzy Star, Cocteau Twins, the Garden State Soundtrack and.. um.. Spirited Away (yeah, the movie). But I’d include him. He had a great voice and I’m thoroughly impressed with someone who can play the guitar, sing, and do the drum/cymbal contraption with one of his feet all at the same time. Tell me your name Mister!!! I really do want to know. (Note: This artist was JBM, and you can take a song home with you, if you’d like)
I was a little excited for the next band, Man/Miracle, to take the stage because I knew my super sexy Jew boy crush was doing the lighting for them. They’re from Oakland, and I do have a lot of Bay Area pride, so they had that going for them as well. I had some ups and downs with this band. I was definitely iffy with them at first, and there was some serious malfunctions going on during the third song where everyone seemed to get off beat from each other. It was pretty discordant and ouch. But they pulled it together mid-song, and things really worked up from there. They were a fun and energetic band to watch. The singer had an interesting voice, that grew on me over time. Their songs had a lot of variation to them, some reminded me of this other band I saw some months back called The Drums, with this surf rock tinge to it. Other times there was the right kinds of discordant with ebbing and flowing pacing in the songs. I like that kind of stuff, when music keeps you guessing a little bit. I think I’d see them again, but its like a first date. Its sometimes hard to know if you like someone the first time around.
It was good that I did have my brother with me there as The Fillmore was quickly filling up with yuppies and older folk. The intermission music was making me crazy. He kept on doing these bizzare crackhead lizard dances with his head and a really loose neck. I was cracking up especially when “Let’s Get Physical” came on. I’m sure people thought we were drunk (not one drop!), but that’s how we roll and its sure as hell kept me distracted from my impending tantrum.
I’d been listening to Rogue Wave’s new album Permalight this past week, and one of their older ones. I was actually surprised that I knew one of the songs: “Christians In Black” from Asleep at Heaven’s Gate. I thought I only knew about them from Gordon talking about them. To me, they’re a hanging out in my room type of band. Solid and pretty songs that keep me company while I’m folding laundry, staring out the window, wondering why the hell I’m still 30 and single. I’d really been enjoying them alone and all to myself.
The transition to seeing them live with all these people that made me think that I wasn’t quite in the generation for this band made me feel a little out of place. It started to also feel really undeserving to be there. Everyone was having a really great time. The Fillmore was packed, and Rogue Wave had the energy up top notch to the pleasure of the crowd. It was me, not them. I tried to sink into it but eventually had to throw in the towel and take my grouchy, whiney, baby self home and to bed.
some photos from the show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/megco/sets/72157623859867813/
I caught their show at The El Rey Theatre in Los Angels just a day or two after this show in the Bay Area. Our crowd matched your “grouchy, whiney, baby self.” Seemed that I was the only fan moving to their grooves. Loved their show, I’ll return for more at a later date. Man/Miracle was new to me and I had a rocky taste for them as well but by the end of their set I was sold. Those boys can get it! Nice write up, I appreciate your honesty! Cheers!