So it turns out someone actually reads this stuff. And that one person really wants me to finish what I started. I'm terrible at that, so I could probably use a little goading. Other people: Better than Ritalin!
Friday night, I tried to start out with Britt Daniel and Built To Spill (performing, apparently, all of Perfect From Now On straight through) at the Wonder Ballroom. It was the early show, with Britt Daniel starting at 5:30. I got there about an hour later to find a line stretched down the block. Strike two. This show didn't even come with real pre-sale tix, and the only way to get in without a wristband was to go get a free ticket somewhere earlier that day. I heard the first few notes of the title track from PFNO floating out the door of the Wonder as I drove home, starting to seethe. Looking at the schedule, knowing how difficult it had been to get into some shows so far, I ended up watching the end of the ballgame rather than heading across town somewhere then finding myself late and shut out somewhere else. A Twins win, 10-2, eased my frustration somewhat. Then off to the Crystal, where I got there well before any of the music even started, thanks to Vampire Weekend headlining. Sat down in my spot, and spent the interminable wait for music to begin (probably about 20 minutes, but patience and sitting still aren't exactly strong suits for me) mentally cursing MFNW for making me sit there instead of venue-hopping and seeing something unexpected. Had a couple of interesting conversations, including one guy who seemed to be reading my brain (Nada Surf's Let Go is somehow "better than it is" and they've never even gotten close to matching it again; JV is kind of cool recorded, but live is wholly different and amazing; not getting into BtS was the disappointment of the festival).
Then Lackthereof started. The brainchild of Danny from Menomena, it incorporates a lot of Menomena sounds. But then, live, it borrows Dat'r as the rhythm section. Absolutely inspired pairing, right there. Started a bit messy, as if they couldn't quite hear themselves, but then it all clicked. They are the masters of the STOP (beat, beat, beat) CRASH! And there was a toy accordion. And at one point, all four members of the band were playing drums. Awesome to behold. During the break between bands, this other guy started expounding to me on what he thought of Lackthereof. Missing a little something, he couldn't put his finger on it, but they could blow up huge. *Shrug* What the hell does he know...for a one-man side project, signing to Barsuk is blowing up huge. And they're not missing a damn thing. Bastard also failed to save my seat. John Vanderslice followed. I wondered how he would fare in such a huge venue, only having seen him at the Doug Fir. I needn't have worried. He owned that place. The bass and drums filled the space and more. He eschewed any of the cute elements (like the synth horns), the stage banter, and the pretty songs, and just flat out bowled us over. The crowd was really engaged, even though they were all there for the pop-alt band up next. It was like JV was on a mission to balance the bubble-gum to come with some pure, dark, creepy battering. The smoke machine didn't hurt. He did Exodus Damage and Up Above the Sea back to back, ten minutes of pure cleansing fury...yet hummable, too! (How does he still do Exodus Damage? We didn't get the revolution he was hoping for...in fact, quite the opposite.)
Didn't stick around for Vampire Weekend. Didn't have high hopes, but trolled by Roseland to see if there was any possibility of getting into TV On The Radio. Not a chance in hell. A line four-deep all the way down the block and around the corner, and then I lost sight of it. I wonder how many people paid their fifty bucks just to stand in line all weekend? Headed over to Slabtown for the Tender Loving Empire showcase. TLE is some sort of mish-mash label-publishing house-incubator-hopeful monster. There were hidden treats...I found a TLE t-shirt! Slabtown, where I've never been, is nine-tenths creepy, dirty dive bar and one-tenth indie-artsy-cool stuff. Oh--and air hockey. Turns out I'm no good at air hockey. Finn Riggins was up first. Irish drinkin' band? No. An experimental, but mostly successful, layering-on of a bunch of wildly divergent elements, including bits of keyboard-funk, a transient moment or two of ska, some videogame noises, some synth that sounded like a Hammond B-3 set from 'stun' to 'kill', a steel drum, sparkly pretty stuff, and some plain ol' old-skool gothpunk, held together with duct tape and a cool, buzzy female voice. Next up, Jared Mees and the Grown Children. Another dork-punk-type sound. But so familiar...what do all these bands have in common? What element is that that I can't quite put my finger on? The lightbulb went on. 71.8% of Portland bands are influenced by Half Japanese. Do you have any idea how much better I feel having figured that out? So anyhow, JM&theGC was a big slice of Half Japanese, and reminded me a bit also of Please Step Out Of The Vehicle, if the PSOTV marching-band elements were replaced with country-punk.
Ended the night out with late-night french fries and comparing notes.
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