I swear to god I started this update three weeks ago.
Been going to shows like a young pup lately, as evidenced by three
reviews below, four in the works, and at least two
shows to attend this week. My writing pace of one paragraph per
week is really going to have to get amped up.
Apparently this website has turned into an mp3/review blog, which
wasn't my original intention. But apparently I can't take
photos for shit lately and not much else is going on, outside of what
you see in the "photo journal" yab. Couple of new
entries there, by the way.
This damn dog of mine really likes to nap on my feet.
Sometimes the best shows are the ones you have no intention of going
to. I was hanging with some friends, a guest list
spot was offered, and the idea of combining a visit to Carburitos with
some sweet pop music seemed a good reason to
get out of the house.
I've seen Camera Obscura a few times and
they've always put on a good show, but this was by far the best I've
seen
them perform. Amongst other reasons, I think this show stood out
because they kept it a very "upbeat" affair, not playing
as many of their mellow tracks and instead focusing on their bouncy
songs, which honestly are always my favorite songs
of theirs. The band seemed extremely tight even though this was
the first show with a new bassist (the regular guy had to
fly back to Scotland to attend to some family matters). The band
did a nice job of playing songs from all their albums, not
just hitting the new release heavy (an act that generally annoys
me...look, I know you're proud of the new record but your
fans want to hear some old stuff too!).
And for the record - the Cradle was packed, super packed, and the crowd
was really, really into it. I honestly had no idea
Camera Obscura was so popular, but good for them. It was
certainly a much different crowd from the last time I was at
the club (Mastodon a month or two ago) - less black t-shirts, more
colorful clothes, more cute girls, and a lot less devil
horns being thrown. Not that there is anything wrong with rocking
the horns at a pop show, I bet the band appreciates
the enthusiasm...
If you're going to go to a show at the Local 506 on a hot summer night,
you better really love the band or really love
sweating, cause if it is a popular, crowded show you're destined to
lose a few pounds in that sweat lodge. I know I
sweat a lot more than your average joe, but I certainly wasn't the only
one in the place who was "glistening".
But enough about my body chemistry issues, I was there to see a rock
show dammit. And a I saw a damn good one
courtesy of Sunset Rubdown. Oh you
Canadians, you like your hockey, you like your Molson, and you know how
to
write some damn fine indie pop. Spencer Krug and company did a
fine job channeling their manic, anxious keyboard-
heavy songs into a live setting, and the crowd seemed to really
appreciate it. A lot of the set played heavily from their
newest album "Dragonslayer", a fantastic record but one I haven't
listened to very much yet. Luckily, the new record is
so catchy and enjoyable that the songs were plenty fun even without
being able to sing along. There were a few older
tracks but sadly one of them wasn't "Winged/Wicked Things" from 2007's
"Random Spirit Lover".
Really, that was about it...the band played, it was awesome, then it
was over. A good rock show, just what the doctor
ordered. Assuming this doctor was a fraud, because it you were
sick prescribing rock as a cure seems like a terrible
idea.
Oh, and the band was selling "acid washed" t-shirts.
Acid-washed! I didn't buy one, but maybe I should have, cause
who knows when I'll get another chance to buy an acid-washed indie rock
shirt, and Canadian no less.
One thing I've really been enjoying since I moved back to the Triangle
are all of the different venues used for live shows -
it's not just locked in to the nightclub-or-houseparty only line of
thinking, which seemed to generally be the case with most
shows I attended out in the Bay Area.
They held a couple of interesting shows in the Duke Gardens last summer
but I never got my ass motivated enough to
get out there, but local favorites The
Rosebuds were the final straw that got me to actually put on
pants and leave the
house. Er, well shorts really, it's hot as shit out here these
days. It didn't hurt that the show was at 7 PM either, allowing
for a musical good time and still home early enough to watch Law &
Order reruns.
I've reviewed a thousand Rosebuds shows at this point, it's well
documented I love the band, and honestly I don't know
what to say that I haven't said so many times already. For an
outdoor show, the sound was quite good, the crowd was
pretty lively (lots of babies and kids goofing around, as you might
expect at an early show set in a bucolic garden), and
the band seemed to be having a good time. I was pretty happy
because the band seemed to play a lot of songs from
my favorite record "Birds Make Good Neighbors", as well as some of
their lesser known older tracks that have been
featured on various local compilations (whose names I'm much too lazy
to look up...this includes the names of the
comps and the songs - I'm thorough that way). They also had a few
guests join them from time to time - Wes Phillips,
one of their many former drummers, played stand-up bass on a bunch of
songs and really filled in the sound. There
was also a brief appearance by some members of the Lost
in the Trees collective, who added a bit of horns to the
affair.
A nice summer evening full of good music, I can't imagine it gets any
better than that. Well, there could have been
ice cream vendors, but other than that...
"I
don't mean to be gross, but the only time it's good to yell 'I have
diarrhea' is when you're playing Scrabble because it's
worth a shitload of points."
