Tuesday, February 01, 2011

Raw Moans/ Colleen Green/ Tamaryn/ Crocodiles @ Casbah- 01.30.11

Last Saturday night The Casbah provided the assembled masses with four four hours of music and one helluva show. San Diego's Raw Moans started things off, followed by Ms. Colleen Green from LA, Tamaryn via San Francisco, and the return of local boys (and girls) Crocodiles. More after the jump...



Having four acts on the bill makes for a long night, so it was understandable that the crowd had yet to trickle in for Raw Moans' opening set. Joseph Vorachack and Jeff Graves started things off with four or five songs of their low key 'Chinese Pop' off their newly released album. By the time they had packed up, Colleen Green and her one-woman show was ready to go. Backed only by a drum machine, she sang and strummed her way through an enjoyable set of Lo-Fi, Best Coast-y tunes to an appreciative crowd that was rapidly filling in. Four-piece Tamaryn took the stage next and provided a showcase of their psychgaze (I just made that up) chops. Playing in benefit of their recently released debut LP 'The Waves' Tamaryn's effortlessly captivating vocals paired with guitarist/ producer Rex John Shelverton's multi-layered guitar into an abstract blend of sonic ambience that was entirely captivating.

By the time Crocodiles set up, it was about 1230 and completely packed. Given the extra hour or so to booze before the headliners started, there were a few people up front that probably would have been better off at the bars in PB or curled up somewhere comfortable in the fetal position (more on this later), but such distractions did not seem to affect any of the performers. Shunning the perpetually dim house lighting in favor of a few red bulbs located here and there, front man and lead vocalist Brandon Welchez took the stage joined by guitarist and collaborator Charles Rowell, Marco Gonzalez on bass, Robin Eisenberg on keys and backing vocals and Anna Schulte on drums. Incorporating a mix of tracks from both 'Summer of Hate' and 'Sleep Forever', the band tore through their hour+ long set, willing people to dance with a combo of post-punk and noise pop/ krautrock jams. The evening was topped of by a special appearance from Brandon's wife and Dum Dum Girls frontwoman Dee Dee Penny, who joined in for the encore to a very appreciative crowd.

Raw Moans:



Colleen Green:



Tamaryn:



Crocodiles:




For more pix from the evening click here, and for the rest of my concert photography click here.

Small editorial to finish things up: I've been to a few shows at The Casbah and have experienced most crowd types from full-on mosh pit at High On Fire, to enthusiastic rocking out at Foals, to stand there and stare at your shoes at The Album Leaf. One thing remains a constant- everyone in attendance is there to have a good time, which usually means respecting the people around you and their space. If you are too fucked up to stand on your own- I'm not your pillow. Go fall asleep in the Atari Lounge. If you're drunk enough that you're jumping around like someone who lost inner ear control and think that throwing beer at the band is a good idea- at best I'm going to stick my pointy elbows into your gut until you move away from me and at worst, you'll get ripped out of there by your neck by much-bigger-than-you security (just ask the jackass up front on Saturday). Chill out, enjoy yourself and don't interfere with other people's fun.
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