Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Friday Night: Thrice, Kevin Devine, Bad Veins & The Dig @ House of Blues

Photo by Sterling Andrews, courtesy Vagrant Records
This Friday night the House of Blues has a show that has depth from open to close.
Headliners Thrice recently put out a record called Beggars, that shows the band heading back to their roots after their slick 4 ep collection, The Alchemy Index. They created the album together in a studio, jamming and creating songs as they came, stepping back from Alchemy's deliberate themes which used a lot of digital enhancements. In Beggars, the band returns to the guitar driven rock of their past.
Kevin Devine released Brother's Blood, in April 2009, and has toured relentlessly across continents since the release. The recording sessions were so revered, in fact, that he's recently released an EP of unreleased tracks from the Blood sessions entitled She Stayed As Steam. The EP can be streamed here, with the title track available for free download. (click the download button in the widget on the right of the site)
Joining the tour, Cincinnati-based duo Bad Veins return to San Diego. I haven't been shy about expressing how much I like this band, and have now seen them at the Casbah, the Soda Bar, and the Loft at UCSD. Their self-titled record was released last year on Dangerbird and was one of my favorite records of the year, one that I listen to often from front to back unlike other bands that maybe have two or three strong tracks per record. Each performance has demonstrated their ability to recreate their record live, even with all of the layers. "Irene" helps...their reel-to-reel tape machine that plays back some of their background mixes...though she broke down once and they still pulled off the set.
Finally, New York's The Dig are rounding out the bill. Their debut, Electric Toys, has also had them out on the road and this is their second or third time passing through San Diego. I'm sorry to say I missed them, so I especially look forward to checking them out this time around. They've been on the road with The Joy Formidable, Portugal. The Man, and White Rabbits to name a few. Right click/save as for a free download of "You're Already Gone".
The show is at the House of Blues this Friday night, July 16. Doors are at 6 pm; show starts at 7 pm. It is a 21+ show. Tickets are available here.

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