***THE THERMALS***
Own my soul.
As of Friday, July 27th, when I drove up to the big, big city with bran420_7 and wombatdeamor to see them at Subterranean.
We managed to get there without a single mishap and scored a metered parking space two block from the venue with two hours to go before both the limit was up and free evening parking began. That's right, parking for a full evening in hipland North Avenue cost us a grand total of...$0.50.
We chilled for a bit in a cool corner bar called Cafe Absinthe before moving to an excellent sushi joint. Although it was "Japanese" with "Japanese" decor and menus, it (like many sushi joints in the US in my experience) was owned and operated by Koreans. But the food was fabulous. As were the edamame. And the umeshu.
And then on to the club, which had Sapporo on tap. We were there in time to catch a decent local band and get close to the stage for the listed openers: an excellent group called The Dials who are a wonderful antidote to the absence of Sleater Kinney.
And then, The Thermals.
They rocked. Oh my god, they rocked. This was definitely one of the top five live shows I've attended, if not the top three. They were fabulous. Energetic. Tight playing, crowd interaction. No bells and whistles, just amazing, amazing music and nonstop energy. I am so in love with this band.
Better yet, I was standing right in front of them. How in front of them, you ask? Right in front of them. Against the stage. They were about 1.5 feet away from me, but that was it. Eye level. I could see every chord and note they played. OMGFabulous. As an added bonus, I got the set list and a guitar pick. Oh, and a ginormous Thermals poster with "Sold Out" on it in big sharpie letters.
After the show we strolled out of the venue only to discover the most amazing bookstore I have ever encountered in my life. It was in a converted row house, three stories plus basement, and had only about 15 books I've been desperately searching for. (I was so, so good and bought NOTHING.)
And on our way out of the bookstore, who did we pass but the lead singer, chilling on the street with a cigarette. By the time we'd processed this and turned around he'd been joined by the bassist (on whom I have an unrelenting girlcrush) and the drummer (on whom I have an unrelenting crush). I told them that I loved them and put on an amazing show before bran420_7 took over. She, not being a massive fan like I am, was not as pitifully tonguetied! And as jealous as that made me, I think her "so where are you guys from, anyway?" conversation was probably preferable to the minutiae I wanted to ask them about. (Seriously, I'd be pretty freaked out if a complete stranger who'd just spent the last couple hours singing all my songs back to me wanted to carefully pick my brain apart on various lyric choices.)
But short story: I MET THE BAND AND THEY WERE AWESOME!!!
We rolled back into town at around 4:30 am after an amusing, but uneventful drive.
All in all, EXCELLENT.
That will be all.
As of Friday, July 27th, when I drove up to the big, big city with bran420_7 and wombatdeamor to see them at Subterranean.
We managed to get there without a single mishap and scored a metered parking space two block from the venue with two hours to go before both the limit was up and free evening parking began. That's right, parking for a full evening in hipland North Avenue cost us a grand total of...$0.50.
We chilled for a bit in a cool corner bar called Cafe Absinthe before moving to an excellent sushi joint. Although it was "Japanese" with "Japanese" decor and menus, it (like many sushi joints in the US in my experience) was owned and operated by Koreans. But the food was fabulous. As were the edamame. And the umeshu.
And then on to the club, which had Sapporo on tap. We were there in time to catch a decent local band and get close to the stage for the listed openers: an excellent group called The Dials who are a wonderful antidote to the absence of Sleater Kinney.
And then, The Thermals.
They rocked. Oh my god, they rocked. This was definitely one of the top five live shows I've attended, if not the top three. They were fabulous. Energetic. Tight playing, crowd interaction. No bells and whistles, just amazing, amazing music and nonstop energy. I am so in love with this band.
Better yet, I was standing right in front of them. How in front of them, you ask? Right in front of them. Against the stage. They were about 1.5 feet away from me, but that was it. Eye level. I could see every chord and note they played. OMGFabulous. As an added bonus, I got the set list and a guitar pick. Oh, and a ginormous Thermals poster with "Sold Out" on it in big sharpie letters.
After the show we strolled out of the venue only to discover the most amazing bookstore I have ever encountered in my life. It was in a converted row house, three stories plus basement, and had only about 15 books I've been desperately searching for. (I was so, so good and bought NOTHING.)
And on our way out of the bookstore, who did we pass but the lead singer, chilling on the street with a cigarette. By the time we'd processed this and turned around he'd been joined by the bassist (on whom I have an unrelenting girlcrush) and the drummer (on whom I have an unrelenting crush). I told them that I loved them and put on an amazing show before bran420_7 took over. She, not being a massive fan like I am, was not as pitifully tonguetied! And as jealous as that made me, I think her "so where are you guys from, anyway?" conversation was probably preferable to the minutiae I wanted to ask them about. (Seriously, I'd be pretty freaked out if a complete stranger who'd just spent the last couple hours singing all my songs back to me wanted to carefully pick my brain apart on various lyric choices.)
But short story: I MET THE BAND AND THEY WERE AWESOME!!!
We rolled back into town at around 4:30 am after an amusing, but uneventful drive.
All in all, EXCELLENT.
That will be all.