I know it's really ridiculous how backlogged I am on posting all this stuff, but I've been to some great shows lately and I figure better late than never. Aside from having been looking forward to seeing Blind Pilot and The Low Anthem, even now, almost a month later, I can say this was one of my favorite shows in recent memory. The show sold out and I remember looking around and wondering how all these people knew Blind Pilot...tv placement? a movie soundtrack? the bicycle tour? I dunno, but definitely not a regular Casbah crowd, which is great, except for the fact that people were incredible chatty throughout both openers. I don't know if it's happening more at shows or if my tolerance is just wearing thin, but it is very annoying. Still, I tried to block it out.
The show started with a band from Portland called Mimicking Birds. At the time they reminded me a bit of Fleet Foxes, and after the show I chatted with them and they said their full-length will be released in 2010 on Isaac Brock's label, Glacial Pace. Between songs the singer shyly looked to the bar and said, "I'm sorry, we just have a couple more songs, but we'll keep it down so we don't interrupt your conversations." The crowd was so loud, I don't think they heard him. Regardless, I thought they were great and bought their EP and look forward to seeing them again.
I've been listening to The Low Anthem since I was given their CD late this summer, and it was their first San Diego show ever, and hopefully they weren't too discouraged by the noise factor to come back. It took about 5 songs for the crowd to actually pay attention, which was a bit of a bummer because they played their quieter songs early in the set and the louder more rockin tunes toward the end. Perhaps if they'd flipped their set around they might've grabbed the crowd sooner, but I think they were trying to play their record somewhat sequentially as it plays like a movie soundtrack.
And last up was Blind Pilot, who are simply amazing. There's something so gentle and fragile about the music, and while I'm sure they were happy to play to a sold out room, I would've liked if the crowd didn't take it upon themselves to make every song a singalong. I guess the testament to a good show is that I woke up for the next week with their songs in my head, especially "Two Towns". From interviews I've read, the band would like to do another bicycle tour, so hopefully they keep San Diego on their radar for the next tour, and maybe a Tuesday night show is better for fans to avoid the weekend warrior behavior that was prevalent in the room.
I recorded several songs on video. Here's one of my favorites from the night, the rest are after the jump if you 'keep on reading'. Also, if you're interested in reading a great full review of the show, check out the story on SDNN.
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