Monday Night: Do Make Say Think & Apostle of Hustle @ Casbah

As I mentioned, I wasn't planning on hitting the Casbah last night, what with no disco nap and all. But then there was that thing on 94/9 and I was geeking out, so I had to get down there to hang out. I got there around 9:30 which was good because I had plenty of time to make the rounds before Apostle of Hustle started. I'll admit that I was unfamiliar with the band's material, but they appeared to have a good buzz about them as it didn't take long for the crowd to fill the room.

Apostle of Hustle was really great and the singer had some great stage banter and stories explaining what their songs were about. My favorite points in the night were the songs with the dual vocals, and when the drummer came from behind his kit to sit up stage front to sit on his percussion box for some hand slap drumming. I haven't seen this done as much as I'd like, except for AM Vibe's sets in the Atari Lounge and at the Nada Surf in-store performance a while back. But the kicker, and what really sold me on the band, was the last song of their set- in Spanish. Oh, indie rockers, the way to my heart is to talk about una chica linda. Swoon.







Between bands, I was introduced to Pete Stewart and Mario ("I'm one of the Plastic Saviors") and Sulo, who does booking at Brick By Brick. If you haven't seen Pete, he's amazing on stage. They're playing the Ken Club on Friday if you get a chance to come by. I'd met Sulo a while back at the Honey Brothers show at the Brick but it was cool to see him again, since that was some time ago.

Jason and Abraham showed up, and it was a really great night, because we know typically I'm not into dominantly instrumental music, but Do Make Say Think were absolutely amazing with their 8 people onstage (two drum kits), but since vocals were minimal, we listened to most of the set from the patio. These are musician's musicians and the mostly male crowd was really into their sonic beauty. I think I appreciated them more this time than I did back in March when I saw them but didn't really "get" them. I wasn't even going to take pictures because the crowd was so thick and into it, but I was able to make my way to the front during the second encore when the crowd had thinned out a bit (it was after all, approaching 1 a.m.)









We hung around a while after the show until we were swept out of the bar, but I was glad I'd stuck around because the music really was something special. I came home and posted here and stuff, so I didn't get nearly enough sleep, but it really helps that my new job doesn't start until 9, whereas the last one started at 7:30 and I'd have to get up early enough for the bicycling part of my commute. I'm digging this job.

Speaking of the job, and totally off topic, but when driving home today, there was a 9 car chain reaction accident that happened right in front of me. Of course, I didn't see it happen because of the 6 giant SUVs in front of me blocking the view, but I was in the lane and there was a whole lot of brake slamming and swerving and people coming within inches of bumpers, though those 9 cars couldn't swerve or slam their brakes quick enough, including a minivan and a taxi that were squished in the middle of the pile up. It would be nice if people would slow the hell down, especially at rush hour, and especially in a spot like Mission Valley where lanes merge and exit rapidly. To make it all worse for me, Halloran decided to play Band of Horses new single. Twice. In a row. I'm gonna have to reconsider my path home- maybe staying on Friars to avoid the 8 entirely. And if Halloran keeps it up, I might have to reconsider listening the radio instead of the iPod. I'm jus' sayin'.

Anti-Monday League Recap: Do Make Say Think, Berg Sans Nipple

Sorry that I'm just getting around to posting, but it's been a hectic day. I did go out last night, so I'll recap briefly but mostly I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. My night actually started at A/C Lounge, where Troy Johnson was spinning new music to a mostly CityBeat employee crowd. If Troy's music selections were playing in every jukebox around town...Arcade Fire, Gomez, Peter, Bjorn & John, among others I would be a happy girl (and not just resigned to playing CYHSY at the Ken Club). When his time on the stand was over, however, it was back to club music, starting with JT. I would've left but I'm not one to turn down a complimentary drink ticket, so I had a second Peroni and then was on my way.

I arrived at the Casbah later than I planned and somebody at the door was pissing off the door guy. Rule number one about the Casbah- Don't piss off the door guy! If you are going to arrive to a show separately from your friends, buy your will call tickets individually or buy far enough in advance to have hard tickets. It just makes everything a whole lot easier. Once they worked out whatever they were working out, I got in to see the tail end of Berg Sans Nipple.

They are a two piece band, the drummer from Nebraska and the mainly keyboardist from France. The two of them were rockin out while using various pedals and percussion instruments to create loops and sounds. They were both high energy and I was surprised by how many people were there to see an entire evening of instrumental music. I've seen them described as dreamy electronica, their myspace page describes them as combining textured minimalism and emancipated-rock. Um, blah blah blah, blah blah. That doesn't tell me anything. But the stage is full with a lot of shit, they play hard, and I was wondering if we were supposed to be standing there jaw dropped and arms folded or if someone somewhere actually dances to this music.







The Casbah was packed by the time Do Make Say Think hit the stage, and I was running around and failed to land a decent photo-op spot up front. There were 8 people on stage, including two full drum kits, a violin, keys, guitars, a couple horns and other stuff I just couldn't even see. Again, all instrumental, and this divides people into two factions, I think...the ones who are blown away by the aural landscape provided by the musicians onstage (and who would also say I'm an idiot for not listening to the band before the show), and the other faction, made up of people like me who love the build up like the exposition to a great story, but who want something more. We were the ones outside saying that it felt like we were witnessing something historic happening, something huge, but it never got there, because all we want was someone to sing, to put words to the music we can't grasp and translate on our own. The layers were beautiful, the musicians totally talented, but my interest can not be suspended that long.

I passed my camera up to Andrea to take some pics, but the setting was wrong so most didn't come out. I also heard somehow my camera made it onstage and the keyboardist snapped a couple shots. Toward the end I made my way up for a couple pics, too. So here's some of those, all mixed up.











All in all it was a great night and I'm glad I'm getting exposed to post-punk edgecore electronic lush landscape math prog whatever music by seeing so many different bands, but all I'm saying is you'll never see me be a snob about it, and you may need to explain it to me every once in a while, too.