Drag The River, Cory Branan, & The Silent Comedy @ Casbah, 2-15-08

Friday rolled around and my bosses were kind enough to let us bail early, which was great because after the rainy day Thursday, Friday's weather was a lot nicer. I had to run an errand in Golden Hill, so I picked up my dog and we ran around the Grape Street dog park for a while. Pascha is deathly afraid of having her picture taken, but I tried to sneak a couple in, then she caught on and kept a good thirty feet from me until we were ready to leave, at which point she ran out of the park on her own and sat next to my car door.



After that, a brief nap, then it was time to head back to the Casbah for Drag The River, Cory Branan, and Silent Comedy. People are finally realizing what an amazing band The Silent Comedy are. I decided not to take pictures of them because they had a professional photographer there with a flash set up behind the stage and I didn't wanna ruin his shots, but it allowed me to get into the revival. There's this movie called The Apostle that I love- and their set reminds me of that movie. If you've seen it, perhaps you know what I'm talking about. If not, it's worth adding to your NetFlix queue.

I bumped into Seth at the show and he introduced me to Cory Branan who was such a nice guy. Hailing from Tennessee, I could easily see him tour with Steve Poltz & Bob Schneider with his sometimes quirky and oddball lyrics. Not your typical dude with a guitar, which is probably why he has so many whiskey swilling dude fans. This is music not made for coffee shops, and I loved it.






Between bands, Vena Cava played in the Atari Lounge, but they were so loud that they could be heard throughout the Casbah. I like them a lot, but it was pretty packed at the back bar so I listened from the patio. The punkboarders were out in full force, as well. Oh, and then I was at the back bar for a minute when some dude came up and turned on the sauce flirting with me, but I think he was just hoping I'd be so flattered I'd buy him a drink. Yes, Steve, Mr. Firefighter from Carlsbad, I'm calling you out.

Drag The River took the stage last and they had a set list of about 40 songs on their guitars, though I couldn't really say how much of them they got through, because it seemed they got cut short toward the end of the night. Perhaps I'd lost track of time, but it felt a little premature. I can't really say though, because I was out on the patio or in the back bar for more than half their set. I like the band a lot, but they're also a dude's band and the crowd was a little rowdy for my taste. Not pushing or fighting or anything, but just a lot of alcohol pouring and a lot of raised drink sing-a-longs. Kinda felt like a frat party I wasn't invited to.





After the show, Laura Jane and Jason came over and we stayed up really late. LJ left when it was just about sun up, but Jason and I were up well past sunrise, eventually laying out in my backyard and I even got a sunburn. It was awesome- these legs haven't seen sun in some time. Eventually I had to crash out and sorta lost the day, but it was all worthwhile. Below are some pics from the patio...