What a great first weekend of a new year. I started my weekend after my halfday of work on Friday by scooting home and taking care of business, then heading downtown with Sara to see The Holiday. It’s standard romantic comedy fare, which translates to me crying over silly moments and trying to decide who I love more…Jack Black or Jude Law. I enjoyed the movie and recommend it if you’re already feeling a bit of nostalgia for Christmas.
After the movie I picked up Andrea and we headed to Happy Hour to meet Scott and Sophie (CatDirt and CatDirtWife). They were going to the show at Horton House/Stockton House. Troy Johnson was initiated and showed up at the bar, too, along with Seth Combs. In all honesty, if my night had ended there, I would’ve been fine with that because we were having such a good time, but alas, we all had other plans.
Andrea and I made it to the Casbah just as the Roman Spring had started their set. This is my second time seeing them and I really noticed a lot of growth and a more fluid sound. Tim took more risks with guitar solos and I think the sound mix was just a lot better than the last time I saw them.
As expected, it was a packed house, which is just a great commentary on San Diego local music at the moment. The Prayers were on next and I’ll definitely have to check them out another time when there isn’t so much to otherwise be distracted by. I ventured out to the patio during their set and pretty much remained there throughout the remainder of the show. I went in a couple times for Grand Ole Party and UV Tigers but I feel like I’ve seen both bands in the past 6 months more than I’ve seen my own mother, so there was nothing new going on and I didn’t feel compelled to pay close attention.
Saturday night I wasn’t much motivated to do anything. Knowing the I’m going to the Casbah tonight (Sunday) as well as tomorrow for the Anti Monday League show, I decided that I’ll have to catch Swim Party and Modern Rifles somewhere else. Transfer is another band I’ve seen quite a bit lately, too, so I wasn’t concerned about missing them. Matt called and told me there was some sidestage show happening at the House of Blues. He told me that Vinyl Radio and Grand Ole Party were originally supposed to play, but now the lineup was Lady Dottie and The Diamonds and Delta Spirit. I headed to his house and we ventured downtown. On the ride I got a preview of the rough tracks of the new Vinyl Radio and it is strong. Some mixing needs to be done, but the preproduced product sounds great already. You can still pick up their free CD at various locations. They had a bunch at the Casbah on Friday but I don’t know how many were left. There should be more there for the show tomorrow.
After grabbing some bar fare and a couple drinks, we came to find out that both bands had cancelled and now the show was just going to be Buddy Akai, though I suppose I would’ve known this had I checked the MySpace bulletins.
I’ve seen Buddy Akai before and I enjoy them for what they are, but when manager Erika Jessup (of the Beauty Bar) told us that the band might not play because their laptop was missing we both kinda cringed. Matt is of the belief that computers have no business on stage. I’m not that extreme, but my feeling is that a band should be able to pull off a decent set with or without a laptop. Later that night, Shiloh and Jason and I had a discussion about it and they shed some light on the value of a computer for the electro-rock that bands like Buddy Akai play, but I’m not sure I’m sold. I feel like their sound has already run its course and isn’t really a style with any longevity or staying power once the resurgence of the 80’s passes and we inevitably draw from another era. The boys from Augustana were at the show but left after the first song.
Matt and I were pretty tired from having to wait so long for their set to even start, so we took a cue from Augustana and left after the second song. I picked up my car and wasn’t ready to call it a night so I decided to head to Rosie O’Grady’s in hopes of catching A Weeks Worth and also as a bit of surveillance to check out the bar as a venue. I really believe that bands need to play different venues. The Beauty Bar, The Casbah, The Ken Club and the Sports Club all have their merits, but the crowds at these bars draw from the same pool. There are also places like Brick By Brick or Dream Street or Winston’s that have their own qualities that might help in expanded exposure, even if it seems like nobody is paying attention, as was the case for Rosie’s.
I’ve lived down the street from Rosie’s for seven years now and have to admit this was maybe my fourth time there. I’ve never seen a band play there. I found a stool along the bar and ordered up a Smithwick’s (Rosie’s has a good beer selection) and eventually A Week’s Worth started playing.
They are a local three piece and I have to say I really enjoyed their performance, although I caught them at the end of the night for their final abbreviated set. There’s something about that bar that is foreign to me. Like I love the look of the bar, but the crowd is built in, whether there’s a band or karaoke or whatever, so to me not being a local, you get the feeling like you wish you could transport 50 friends there. Everyone was talking through the music that I kept thinking of the scene in Beautiful Girls when the Afghan Whigs play live but as just background music in the bar. Aside from some random chick dancing up front, nobody seemed to be paying attention to the music except for me and the two guys next to me because we were right near the band’s setup, and the woman taking pictures.
Still, none of that takes away from the fact that A Weeks Worth are a good band. I’ve been laying on my bed and have listened to their album twice all the way through and I am trying to find a way to describe the music but I’m coming up blank. I guess the fact that I can lay on my bed and listen to a self produced local album all the way through twice should alone say something. I’m feeling Nada Surf, early Better Than Ezra, Longwave…somewhere along those lines. Just do yourself a favor and listen to them.
After the show I came home and was ready to settle into a late night movie but Jason and Shiloh came over so we watched Next on MTV for a bit, played a late night game of Scene It! and then called it a night. They took off around 4:30 and I nestled in for sleep.
At this moment I plan on heading to the Casbah tonight for Stephen Malkmus, but Sunday’s are hard, so we’ll see how I feel about it in 4 hours or so. In the meantime, I hope everyone had a good weekend and I’ll be updating the Things to Do shortly.
1 comment:
we're going to the moose lodge this week - have you been? i think you'd like.
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