Writer, Swim Party, TFTO, and Saint Motel @ Ken Club 10.11.08

The night started off strong, coming from Hess's art show at Spacecraft in Hillcrest. All of Writer and The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra were in attendance. Showing up at the Ken Club around 10pm, the crowd was looking pretty thick, lots of fun people hanging out and easy to talk to. First up to play was Saint Motel, a four piece from LA, and they turned the stage into what looked like a hunter's den, including a Stag's head mounted on the back wall. But what they shot with wasn't a rifle, it was rock n' roll (pretty lame phrase, I know), and it was great. They put a lot of energy into every song, which was sometimes dancey and sometimes just all out rockin, but always with some sweet melodies.

With such a great opener, I knew the night was gonna be awesome. Next came The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra, they brought a mellower vibe, but it was fantastic none the less. They had everyone swaying back and forth in a dreamy sea of people enchanted by their gentle harmonies and tasty tones. I absolutely loved when Kelli and Hunter harmonized, something about female harmonies over a male lead gets me every time. Definitely a band that made a deal with the tone angels, and it was delightful.

The crowd just seemed to be building and building throughout the night, and the booze was starting to get everyone really riled up. Which was great as Swim Party took the stage to see a full room. They are now starting to make their band quite amorphous, as they continue to bring their friends (Natalie, and Eric from The Modlins) on stage to play on different songs. With the soft lights illuminating the stage, Swim Party seemed to play one of the more energetic sets I have seen from them. Petro seemed to be really grooving on the drums and the crowd responded by jumping and singing along. Eric seemed to feed off the energy as well, turning towards the drums and laying into his guitar. And the one thing I always get mesmerized by is Alex's unique bass lines, they seem more interesting every time I watch them play.

Closing the night out was Writer, and I always love watching them play shows with Swim Party the two compliment each other so well. After rockin out to Swim Party, Writer brought us into a world of sing along heartbreak that somehow comes across rather inspiring. With Andy's poetic lyrics, and Eli's melodic guitar riffs answering back, and Jamie thumping drum beats, the band carries you off into a musical world where the pain of the past is a distant dream that we all can shed off our backs. The crowd broke into a bit of a frenzy towards the end of the set and Andy had the biggest smile on his face and couldn't help but laugh at the great crowd response. From what I remember (alcohol affected memory), the crowd chanted for an encore and got to end the night with one last sing-along. Beautiful.


(I didn't get any good photos of the band that night, so I went with the most artistic?, kind of looks like their album cover)


I ended the night by going to Roberto's with The Flying Tourbillon Orchestra and introducing the Los Angelans to San Diego's own California Burrito and Carne Asada Fries, let's just say Carne Asada Fries were the biggest hit. They drove home to LA and I walked to my apartment to dream about the great night I had. Aaaaaah, what a night!