Sunday, July 29, 2007

Friday Recap: Red Feathers, Old Man Hands, Ghost Buffalo, The North Atlantic, Swedish Models, The Muslims

I wish I had more time to write earlier, but it has been a busy, busy weekend. I'll recap as much as I can before I have to get some sleep.

My Friday night started at the Whistle Stop. I was really excited to see two bands that I haven't seen in some time. Red Feathers started the night and killed it. They sound so vocally strong and the bar was packed with people for the show, though the usual chatter on the bar side of the wall was a factor in the general buzz and energy of the night.

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Lately I've been finding myself loving bands that switch it up between vocalists and instruments and Ref Feathers is no exception. I finally met Marco (thanks for the CD!) and it was nice to finally talk to him since we've been at the same place at the same time so many times before.

Old Man Hands was up second and I can't ever say enough about them and the talent of Gabriel. His voice can melt anyone and the accompaniment of keys, guitars, violin, mandolin, drums, bass just gave such a full sound. This was the most people I'd ever seen play under the Old Man Hands moniker, since when I have seen them in the past it's been at tiny spaces where they play more stripped down. There were moments that I felt amazement in the way I did the first time I ever saw "The Last Waltz."

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Toward the end of the set, LaTaunya Lockett sang a song with the band and jaws were dropped. Get that girl a record deal, my god. Her soulful voice was a beautiful compliment to the band.

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They finished a little after 11 and though I would've loved to see the Modlins, I had to mosey on my way. I hadn't been to Black Box Studios before but had no problem finding it and getting in via the alley. There were a lot of people there and I was impressed how overall, the crowd hanging outside was quiet and respectful to the neighborhood. It's obviously ideal, too, because of the studios sound proofing, that you couldn't hear the music at all from the outside.

The only bummer for me was that the show ran really late. I caught a little bit of the touring band, Ghost Buffalo, and they musically had a rockin vibe and lead by a female vocalist whose vox was somewhere between Jewel and Anya Marina, but the backing band kept her from sounding too folky.

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After they finished, I hung outside with Kasey for a while then with Dave who had me cracking up. I was actually surprised to run into anyone I knew there, to be honest. By the time The North Atlantic started, it was nearly midnight. I had never seen them play before but it was a great performance that had the room packed (and really freakin hot). The crowd clearly loves the band and were singing along to most of the songs.

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Unfortunately, I was at my tipping point and the crowd and heat became a little overwhelming added to the fact that I had to get myself home, so I left about midway through the set. I made my way back to Kensington and walked to the bar to find that show was also running very, very late. I was able to catch the final couple songs of Swedish Models.

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It was 1:30 bar time when the Muslims finally took the stage and they played right up to the lights on kicking everyone out of the bar moment and a good amount of people stayed to watch them finish.

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I was after anti-party since I had a big Saturday planned, yet somehow I ended up staying up pretty late loading all the pics up till I finally shut down and shut out calling it a great Friday night.

1 comment:

Mangoose said...

the ken show didn't start till 10:50. In the san diego reader it said the show began @ 9, which usually means 9:30. this is pretty ridiculous. the last band (the one i wanted to see) didnt go on till 1:30. i wouldnt know cuz i left @ 11:15. being a newcomer to the SD scene, i now know better than to get to a show on time.