Friday, March 30, 2007

Sheesh, where've I been?

I swear, I have been out seeing music. It's been a busy...gosh, has it been 9 months? The Boyfriend moved in, and he and I then moved to a new place, I finished and defended the big paper, all sorts of busy-ness. So I haven't had time to write. But I'm back now, and you'll forgive me, right?

The last month or two has been pretty quiet for shows, but it seems spring has sprung, and bands are celebrating by getting out into dark, windowless basements late at night! Last night I saw Nick Jaina at Mississippi Studios. I've been to MS twice now, both times to see Nick. It's a bit too grown-up a venue for me, with chairs set out in rows and earnest folkies strumming guitars onstage.

Openers: Douglas someone? Someone Douglas? Hushed, fingerpicking folk songs with some....zzzzzzzzz. Oh, sorry. Molly Rose: A young barista, big-eyed hipster-waif, who drove down from Seattle to sing strummy folk songs about death and crushes and, uh, I guess I stopped paying attention after a while. I liked one song okay. The Boyfriend asked me why I like some indie folk, like Horsefeathers and Iron and Wine, but not acts like these. So I spent much of my time during these two sets mentally debating what the difference is between good, engaging indie-folk and coffee-shop-in-a-Borders-Books folk. I didn't come up with an answer, but at least it gave me something to do while waiting for Nick to start. (Verdict: Both opening acts were 15% the former, 85% the latter).

Nick J: Seven people crammed onto the tiny stage. A pump organ. These weird things called bell plates. Nathan the violinist was mostly pushed offstage into the audience. It was a comparatively introspective set from Nick, and he pulled out two songs he had written years ago and hasn't played since (including one that was a dead ringer for a lost Dylan song). He also had two new ones! A few rollicking tunes (can't help it when Nathan's singing along, like on Battleground), but overall a bit quieter and more serious than usual. Oh, and a hilarious monologue about having discovered American Idol. Absolutely awesome.