Saturday, February 09, 2008

At the Echo/Echoplex

This has been a great week of shows for me thanks to Dana, the Beggars Group/Matador Records street team, and some members of BRMC. This first show this week was Dead Meadow at the Echoplex with Midnight Movies and the Great Northwest opening. I've seen Midnight Movies a lot in the past year and mostly for free, so watching their set was nice and familiar. I recognize a lot of their songs and found most of them pretty good. The Great Northwest were also a pretty good band, I would like to hear more from them. I am honestly a little bored by Dead Meadow, so I was happy to sit during their set after standing for the first two bands. It was nice sitting also because we saw Spike and Dana and him get along like old friends. Not surprising since they're both so talkative and friendly. After the show, we handed out Dead Meadow stickers and flyers with another street team member named William, who was from Denver.

The next show was The Lilys at the Echo with Magic Mirror and Richard Ross opening. Richard Ross was, I think, this tall guy in weird red genie pants who kept playing different saxophones. At first, I thought they were okay, but their set just went on and on. I was relieved when they finally finished. Dana noticed Spike enter the Echo first and then pointed out that Nick was sitting down near by. I noticed Robert coming in, so it was like being at a BRMC show. They were probably there for Magic Mirror, who opened for a few of their shows last year. Spike and Robert were lost in the crowd near the bar, but Nick was standing all around the side of the stage we were sitting at. It was kind of funny seeing him move every few minutes to stand in a different spot.

Magic Mirror's set was very good, especially after that first band. Their music is really getting familiar to me to, though I'd only seen them open for BRMC a couple times. I'm starting to recognize a few of their slower songs, the more political and gospel tinged ones. Anyways, they're a good band and I wouldn't mind hearing more from them. Before the Lilys's set, we moved from our table to the bar area, where we moved from the front of the club to the back where Nick and Spike were standing. Dana ran into Spike earlier and said hello. Nick came over near the start of the Lilys set and said hi. He mentioned he was getting over the flu and that the guitarist with the Lilys (who Dana told me was from a band called Holy Shit) was going to tour with A Place to Bury Strangers, a band I would like to see live some day. Then, he disappeared into the crowd.

The Lilys were really cool indie pop style music. They sounded great despite me not really knowing their songs very well. The tall singer was kind of funny at times. I definitely want to check out some of their albums, since I'd only previously heard a few songs I'd downloaded and from their MySpace. Near the end of their set, a guy started hitting on Dana and she shot him down for being too forward. Also, while he was hitting on her, Robert walked by and we both poked at him. Dana said her finger hurt from his rock hard abs! Poking aside, he didn't stop or say hi so we assumed his girlfriend was calling him home. After the Lilys set ended, Dana found Spike and said good bye to him.

Tonight was Super Furry Animals, Holy Fuck, and Abe Vigoda at the Echoplex. It was so packed and hot in there. No rock star sightings tonight, though Dana did spot a relative of her ex. The bands were pretty good, though I was getting really annoyed by this dancing girl during the first band's set. I guess Abe Vigoda was an okay band, but I wasn't too into them. Maybe it was the girl bugging me too much. Holy Fuck were next. They play mostly instrumental electronic music, and I really enjoyed it. It was really good, especially the last song. I have heard the album before, so maybe that's why I liked it more. Dana was too hot in there and sat out in the smoking area for most of their set. Her cousin Mike was trying to get in, but unfortunately, could not because it was so crowded and I think the show sold out.

Super Furry Animals came on after a lot of work from the guitar tech, who was preparing guitars for like half an hour before! There were a few interesting looking acoustic guitars with neat paintings and drawings on them. This was probably my fifth time seeing SFA live, but it was different from the previous shows. The singer came on wearing a big red helmet and singing with a mic to the side of it. All the members of the band hand interesting embroidery on their clothes, though I couldn't really get any good pictures of them. They played a lot of old and new songs from their many albums, so it was a very exciting and diverse set. One song, the guitarist on the side of the stage I was on asked everyone to put their hands to their heads like antlers and said it was the shortest song ever written, though it seemed more like a funny noise than a song. During one song the two guitarists and the bassist put all their guitars/bass up together. It was pretty cool!

Anyways, if you've read this part, you may want to see some pictures. Here's a link to my Super Furry Animals photos and my Dead Meadow record release party photos. Here are a few Super Furry Animals photos: