22 Concerts / 46 Bands through October 31
I last posted a concert summary three months ago. In those three months, I saw half as many concerts as I did in the first eight months of the year, so that was nice. Here are all the ones I saw through the end of October.
19. The Vibrators w/Tin Foil, Black Static Eye @ Now That's Class.
Once every year or so jackofmany and I go to a punk show together. This year's show was a Thursday, September 20th gig from The Vibrators, a British punk band who had one classic album back the year I was born and who have continued on throughout most of that time, powered by their original drummer.
In order to see them we first had to power through a short set from a local band called Black Eye Static who were mostly forgettable punk but who occasionally veered into some weird experimental stuff that I actually thought sounded pretty good.
They were followed by a band called Black Eye Static who were touring and somehow got put on this bill despite being mostly garage rock and not very punk at all. They also were having a ton of sound problems, spent a lot of time tuning and fixing things, and mostly weren't very good. They actually took so long that one of the Vibrators came out and told them to get off stage so they could play, which the crowd applauded. Black Eye Static responded by playing one final song that was actually really good. If they'd played that well throughout nobody would have told them to get off stage. C'est la vie.
The Vibrators themselves did everything you want in an old punk band:
- Played the hits (ok, hit)? Check.
- Loud and aggressive? Check.
- Great banter? Check.
- Kicked ass and took names? Check.
I had a good time and happily spent $10 on an album to support the cause. The album isn't too shabby, either.
20. The Beths w/Forager, Sessa @ Beachland Tavern.
It seems like every year my friend Brandt gets super excited about a new indie rock band, and the very force of his enthusiasm drags me along to the show. This happened in 2014 with Alvvays or Allo Darlin' in 2012. This year the band was The Beths, out of New Zealand. Brandt, Candy, Ed, Amy plus a few of my coworkers I didn't really know and probably some other people I've forgotten caught them at the Beachland Tavern on Monday, October 8.
As with the Vibrators gig, there were some openers. The first was a more or less random band called Sessa that was dressed all in white like some kind of cult. They were from Brazil, or at least played Brazilian sounding jazzish pop complete with guitar and a lot of backing vocals. I actually found them to be mildly enjoyable, but very mismatched with the headliner.
The second opener was a local band called Forager who I've played on my show but apparently hadn't seen before. They were fun, I liked them, and had a good time talking to them after the show.
The Beths have one fun album that I was reasonably familiar with going into the gig. I now own that album (autographed, even) because they show they put on was more than worthy of me throwing them some cash. Tight vocals, catch lyrics, reasonable music ability: I'm down with it, and will strongly consider seeing them in the larger room when they come in March. As is usually the case, my guideline of "if your friend is super excited about it, consider going" worked out.
21. AJJ w/Kimya Dawson - Beachland Ballroom
I first saw AJJ back in 2016 at the Grog Shop in the run up to the presidential election when the polls mostly seemed like Clinton would win. On Wednesday, October 10, I saw them in a much larger room in the midst of the Kavanaugh hearings. As you might imagine when you're dealing with a fairly political folk band, the mood in the room was somewhat different.
Kimya Dawson (most famous for the Juno Soundtrack) got the crowd riled up a combination of her children's songs and some very overtly political material (mostly touching on Black Lives Matter and the near capacity crowd was definitely getting into it.
AJJ kept the energy going and covered material from throughout their catalog. There was dancing, and screaming and anger and everything you want in a punk show. As the oldest person there, I couldn't shake the thought that while the largely twenty-something crowd was clearly behind the progressive viewpoint of the topical political commentary, most of them probably hadn't voted in 2016. I hope I'm wrong, but then in Ohio they didn't turn out in 2018 either.
Anyway, I had a good time and would have bought an album if they'd had any CDs with them.
22. Studio-A-Rama 2018 - Key to the Mint, Bitchseat, Kid Tested, Punch Drunk Tagalongs, Oregon Space Trail of Doom, Actual Form, Niights, Paranoid Lovesick, Land of Talk, Lucy Dacus
I sort of summarized this in the last weekend for Saturday, October 13, but to recap:
- I really liked Key to the Mint, who were the very first opener.
- Oregon Space Trail of Doom was very doomy, and I liked them.
- Most of the other bands were fine. Unlike the early years of my Studio-A attendance, we rarely have overtly bad bands on stage. I'm not sure if that's because the local scene is stronger or because we have better taste, but either way, that's a win.
- Lucy Dacus is a lovely human being, but I've seen her twice now, and I just don't find her music to be very interesting even though many of my friends at the radio station love her stuff.
- Over the course of the day, talking to rarely seen friends was a better use of my time than watching mediocre bands. Of course, Paranoid Lovesick combined the two with a one-time WRUW host drumming for them.
Coming Soon
Summaries of the five shows I saw in November!
19. The Vibrators w/Tin Foil, Black Static Eye @ Now That's Class.
Once every year or so jackofmany and I go to a punk show together. This year's show was a Thursday, September 20th gig from The Vibrators, a British punk band who had one classic album back the year I was born and who have continued on throughout most of that time, powered by their original drummer.
In order to see them we first had to power through a short set from a local band called Black Eye Static who were mostly forgettable punk but who occasionally veered into some weird experimental stuff that I actually thought sounded pretty good.
They were followed by a band called Black Eye Static who were touring and somehow got put on this bill despite being mostly garage rock and not very punk at all. They also were having a ton of sound problems, spent a lot of time tuning and fixing things, and mostly weren't very good. They actually took so long that one of the Vibrators came out and told them to get off stage so they could play, which the crowd applauded. Black Eye Static responded by playing one final song that was actually really good. If they'd played that well throughout nobody would have told them to get off stage. C'est la vie.
The Vibrators themselves did everything you want in an old punk band:
- Played the hits (ok, hit)? Check.
- Loud and aggressive? Check.
- Great banter? Check.
- Kicked ass and took names? Check.
I had a good time and happily spent $10 on an album to support the cause. The album isn't too shabby, either.
20. The Beths w/Forager, Sessa @ Beachland Tavern.
It seems like every year my friend Brandt gets super excited about a new indie rock band, and the very force of his enthusiasm drags me along to the show. This happened in 2014 with Alvvays or Allo Darlin' in 2012. This year the band was The Beths, out of New Zealand. Brandt, Candy, Ed, Amy plus a few of my coworkers I didn't really know and probably some other people I've forgotten caught them at the Beachland Tavern on Monday, October 8.
As with the Vibrators gig, there were some openers. The first was a more or less random band called Sessa that was dressed all in white like some kind of cult. They were from Brazil, or at least played Brazilian sounding jazzish pop complete with guitar and a lot of backing vocals. I actually found them to be mildly enjoyable, but very mismatched with the headliner.
The second opener was a local band called Forager who I've played on my show but apparently hadn't seen before. They were fun, I liked them, and had a good time talking to them after the show.
The Beths have one fun album that I was reasonably familiar with going into the gig. I now own that album (autographed, even) because they show they put on was more than worthy of me throwing them some cash. Tight vocals, catch lyrics, reasonable music ability: I'm down with it, and will strongly consider seeing them in the larger room when they come in March. As is usually the case, my guideline of "if your friend is super excited about it, consider going" worked out.
21. AJJ w/Kimya Dawson - Beachland Ballroom
I first saw AJJ back in 2016 at the Grog Shop in the run up to the presidential election when the polls mostly seemed like Clinton would win. On Wednesday, October 10, I saw them in a much larger room in the midst of the Kavanaugh hearings. As you might imagine when you're dealing with a fairly political folk band, the mood in the room was somewhat different.
Kimya Dawson (most famous for the Juno Soundtrack) got the crowd riled up a combination of her children's songs and some very overtly political material (mostly touching on Black Lives Matter and the near capacity crowd was definitely getting into it.
AJJ kept the energy going and covered material from throughout their catalog. There was dancing, and screaming and anger and everything you want in a punk show. As the oldest person there, I couldn't shake the thought that while the largely twenty-something crowd was clearly behind the progressive viewpoint of the topical political commentary, most of them probably hadn't voted in 2016. I hope I'm wrong, but then in Ohio they didn't turn out in 2018 either.
Anyway, I had a good time and would have bought an album if they'd had any CDs with them.
22. Studio-A-Rama 2018 - Key to the Mint, Bitchseat, Kid Tested, Punch Drunk Tagalongs, Oregon Space Trail of Doom, Actual Form, Niights, Paranoid Lovesick, Land of Talk, Lucy Dacus
I sort of summarized this in the last weekend for Saturday, October 13, but to recap:
- I really liked Key to the Mint, who were the very first opener.
- Oregon Space Trail of Doom was very doomy, and I liked them.
- Most of the other bands were fine. Unlike the early years of my Studio-A attendance, we rarely have overtly bad bands on stage. I'm not sure if that's because the local scene is stronger or because we have better taste, but either way, that's a win.
- Lucy Dacus is a lovely human being, but I've seen her twice now, and I just don't find her music to be very interesting even though many of my friends at the radio station love her stuff.
- Over the course of the day, talking to rarely seen friends was a better use of my time than watching mediocre bands. Of course, Paranoid Lovesick combined the two with a one-time WRUW host drumming for them.
Coming Soon
Summaries of the five shows I saw in November!