Monday, August 03, 2009

(RED)Music Presents Gomez & Blind Pilot, HoB, 8.2.09

It had been a very long time since I'd been to a proper show at House of Blues in the main hall, but having seen Gomez in the room before, I was very much looking forward to it.

We decided to go downtown early and get some food before the show which was 'meh' but can't win every time. Next time I'll stick to the catfish nuggets.

While we ate, there were promos and videos on the tv screens. I saw the one for this night, presented by (RED)Music, which donates proceeds to AIDS care in Africa. "Upload your photos from tonight with #RedNights" and "Tag your videos of tonight's show on YouTube with #RedNights and 'Bandname'". The promos running inside seemed to indicate that photos and videos would not only be allowed, but encouraged. Not so. Oh well. Got it covered anyway...





The show itself was incredible, and I was with some friends that gave me a little freedom to move around but mostly it was just about the music and I was so happy to be seeing Gomez again. I expected a few more songs from the new record, but they certainly pleased the crowd by playing a sampling of music from all their albums. I was especially impressed with the way they started the set to get the crowd's attention on "How We Operate" (pure vocal, instruments joined in later), though it seemed the majority of the crowd was digging the singalongs for older songs.

More if you 'keep on reading'.







Here's the guys playing their iPhones as instruments...








































All in all, Gomez played for about an hour and a half. They sounded clean and layered and tight as ever, though the guitar amp seemed a tad too loud on certain songs. Olly, the drummer, is just insane, with a Rush sized kit, and yet he uses every piece of it. Here are a couple videos taken on the sly.





Blind Pilot, from Portland, opened the show and were amazing. And not just because the singer had total bedroom eyes, either. Hailing from Portland, the band sold out the Casbah earlier this spring and are getting some well deserved attention of their own. I missed that show (with Loch Lomond!) but won't be missing this band any time they circle back through...


























It was a great show to be sure. Afterward we went to Bar Pink to see Generationals, but it's a little hard to see a band like Gomez and then see anyone else without feeling a tad underwhelmed. They were actually really good, but I wish I could've seen them on any other night, especially since they came all the way from New Orleans.

Gomez will be on Conan O Brien tonight, August 3, so be sure to tune in. Oh- and Gomez did a live interview and session at KINK. You can listen to it here.

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