April 5, 2008

Shows I've been too in the last little bit pt. 1

So it has been absolutely far too long since I've talked about the shows I've been too, which means a few things: I need to come up with a better system for talking about the show I go to, and that I've forgotten a large portion of what has gone on during said shows. Hard to admit, but true nonetheless. so I'm just going to say what I can about the people I remember seeing:

Tap and Kram It:
Tentative name for a new duo, but I really enjoyed their songs. There were a few that were a little too "singer songwriter" for me (I like a little gimmick sometimes I guess), but a few reminded me of French Quarter, a band that readers of this blog know I've loved for a long while.

Finn Riggins:
Wow. These guys were jazzy and rocking and and amazing. reminded me of a more organized and jammy version of Rainer Maria. My jaw was on the ground the whole time these guys played.

magic_circles:
Denver's notorious Hunter Dragon's new project with friend Matt Daniels which, much like everything else Hunter has done, is weird and noisy and not all together. At times it was kind of boring, but others it reminded me of Wolf Parade, so yeah. Hard to tell what to expect sometimes.

Zebra Junction:
Probably the second biggest "hoot and hollar" of that evening (if only because the biggest "hoot and hollar" was a crowd favorite), and they deserved it. I'd seen them once before, but I must say these guys really thrive in a loving environment, because they were all smiles and laughs and talent. See these guys. (I promised I'd review an EP of their's at one point. Expect it in like 4-5 days)

The Lisps:
"I'm Sorry"" is basically one of the best songs of the year (see this post for a review), so I was rather excited to see it performed. The Lisps played their freaking hearts out, cheeks rosy and warm, the band filled the room with a certain amount of happiness that I'm certain is only possible with songs such as theirs, if that makes any sense.

Paper Bird:
Crowd favorite, and with good reason. they decided to go "unplugged," and with a room as big as they were performing in, this was quite the daunting task. Paper Bird, if you didn't know, is made up of a stand up bass player, a banjo player, a guitar player, and 3 charming female vocalists. Everyone shut up and listened in, and I do have to tell you that it was so beautiful that I got a little moist in the eye area. I'll jump at any chance I have to see them again.

Slight Harp:
New band straight outta Denver, mixing members of a few local bands and creating some rather dreamy and ethereal tunes in the vein of A Silver Mt. Zion or Godspeed You! Black Emperor, though done with only 3 members (plus the multi-band Brittany Gould) and few instruments (keyboards, theremin, multiple pedals, guitar, accordion, kid's record player). Very impressive.

Thao Nguyen:
When is Thao not amazing? Well duh, that's never. She told the story of how last time she played Denver it was awful and only two people came to see her, and then she looked at me and noticed that I was one of those two people. I'm not much for touching dumb moments like that, but I still think it's cool that she remembered. See my full report on what happened back in the day. She has never been more powerful and her backing band has never been so competent and talented. bravo.

Xiu Xiu:
Oh man. Blew my freaking mind. I'd never seen them live, and really wondered how their music would translate live ... good god these cats know what its all about. I do have to say that one of the most enjoyable things about their entirely too bombastic set was that they had drum set pieces and cymbals all over, and everyone was hitting something at some point. Man. Astonishing.

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