Fake Fictions, Coltrane Motion, White Mystery, Justin Townes Earle
I realized a few months ago that almost all of the shows I was going to were headlined by national bands and rarely even had local support. So I started going to more local shows. Got to support the scene, right? Friday night I caught Fake Fictions, Coltrane Motion and White Mystery. Fake Fictions were all right - reminded me a lot of early 90s indie-rock. Maybe a little Superchunk? Maybe I'm completely off about that. Coltrane Motion were really good for about 20 minutes. It's two guys doing a little something in the Ratatat line. One is on guitars; the other sings and plays keys, programs, samples, etc. The singer had this incredible vertical leap. But he really annoyed me with that habit of reminding everyone between every song that they were Coltrane Motion and who the other bands were. Maybe it was just nerves. Headlining was White Mystery - the latest Alex White band. This one's with her (real) brother playing drums. They were good - had a garage rock sound - but only played about 20-25 minutes.
Sunday night I went to see Justin Townes Earle. I've been digging Midnight at the Movies pretty hard. I've heard very good things about him live. It was a street festival for $5 on a night when I wasn't doing anything else. No-brainer. He was terrific. He played an hour and a half, dropped almost everything from Midnight at the Movies along with a ton of covers by John Prine, Carter Family, Buck Owens, others I can't name, etc. I was extremely impressed.
But, here's where it gets strange. Late Friday and early Saturday morning I couldn't get Friday's show out of my head, in a good way. It was really sticking with me. I was thinking of how it sounded, how the audience was reacting to the music, where I heard influences from other bands, etc. But Sunday was the show I enjoyed much more, yet an hour later I was checking my email and watching TV without a thought of JTE in my head. And that kinda blew my mind because I put way too much thought into everything, especially something I've really liked. So, why was it the show I liked less seemed to resonate with me more? My only explanation is one that has absolutely nothing to do with the show. Literally five minutes after Earle's set ended, it started pouring rain. And I was on my bike. So I rode 20 minutes home in on/off heavy rain. Then I got home, got my shit ready for work on Monday and got a little something to eat. But Friday? Gorgeous night. Nothing distracted me. I walked out of that show and it was the only thing on my mind, other than a pretty cute girl standing in front of me. It's funny how that works sometimes. When I look back on this weekend, I'll definitely remember JTE more fondly. But in the immediate aftermath, I just got kinda sidetracked. I didn't even think of that until I woke up Monday morning from a dream about the JTE show.
Sunday night I went to see Justin Townes Earle. I've been digging Midnight at the Movies pretty hard. I've heard very good things about him live. It was a street festival for $5 on a night when I wasn't doing anything else. No-brainer. He was terrific. He played an hour and a half, dropped almost everything from Midnight at the Movies along with a ton of covers by John Prine, Carter Family, Buck Owens, others I can't name, etc. I was extremely impressed.
But, here's where it gets strange. Late Friday and early Saturday morning I couldn't get Friday's show out of my head, in a good way. It was really sticking with me. I was thinking of how it sounded, how the audience was reacting to the music, where I heard influences from other bands, etc. But Sunday was the show I enjoyed much more, yet an hour later I was checking my email and watching TV without a thought of JTE in my head. And that kinda blew my mind because I put way too much thought into everything, especially something I've really liked. So, why was it the show I liked less seemed to resonate with me more? My only explanation is one that has absolutely nothing to do with the show. Literally five minutes after Earle's set ended, it started pouring rain. And I was on my bike. So I rode 20 minutes home in on/off heavy rain. Then I got home, got my shit ready for work on Monday and got a little something to eat. But Friday? Gorgeous night. Nothing distracted me. I walked out of that show and it was the only thing on my mind, other than a pretty cute girl standing in front of me. It's funny how that works sometimes. When I look back on this weekend, I'll definitely remember JTE more fondly. But in the immediate aftermath, I just got kinda sidetracked. I didn't even think of that until I woke up Monday morning from a dream about the JTE show.