Last night we played the first show we’ve done in about 8 months, which is one of the longest stretches I’ve ever gone without playing some kinda live show. Rudyard’s was packed, and the Jonx and Side Arms both played extremely well. I should definitely thank former NAPper Ramon for interviewing us on the Chronicle’s 29-95 blog. I should also thank Jeremy at Space City Rock for reviewing the tracks off our new EP. I’m sure having some good press mentions could explain the fine turnout. Mike Sims allowing us to charge a $3 door was also pretty damn helpful, I’d guess.
Anyway, while we were playing at Rudz another local band, Listen!Listen!, was having its own CD release party at Mangos. I’ve never seen them, but I’ll get my chance today, since they’re having an in-store at the re-born Cactus Records at 1 pm. After watching this video, I’ve decided to go check them out.
Maybe I’ll update this and tell you how it was.
UPDATE: So I ended up going. And I came away impressed. And it’s not just because of the free beer St. Arnolds was handing out. Listen!Listen! is a pretty formidable music group, and I look forward to seeing them again.
The band has five members, and it seems like everyone of them plays either banjo or piano at some point. There’s a lot of switching going on. But it didn’t seem to disrupt the proceedings that much. Maybe that’s because they lived up to their billing as sad-bastard champions of Will Oldham-style gothic folk. Hard to generate momentum from that kinda stuff.
But it was riveting. For example, this dude was playing trumpet and drums simultaneously. Hard to take your eyes off that.
These guys are great singers. They featured 2- or 3- part harmonies on nearly every song.
Nice size crowd was there, including at least 5 people with $3,000 cameras, a few of which were on tri-pods. I imagine there will be some better pictures available than what I could provide. The cameras are indicative of another of the band’s apparent strengths. They’re ambitious and they’re very good promoters. They’ve already received some attention from Rolling Stone, and they’ve just finished a tour of the east coast.
Overall, I’m stoked to see them again and I hope they gain the wider audience they’re aiming for. They actually seem to deserve it.
Thanks Marshall. LL are a great band. See em quite a few times. I was busy painting on Saturday and missed the LL show so nice to see it vicariously. And it’s also nice to see they rock out with Wataburger.
err I meant to type *I’ve Seen* em quite a few times.