|
Café du Nord September 5, 2002 Review by Jake Thomas Sure, Café Du Nord has it's drawbacks - the repressive heat, the low stage, a certain selection of the clientele...did I mention how hot it gets in that place? But it's positives outweigh the negatives - intimate shows, easy for me to get to as the J Church stops right next to it, and sometimes you'll see a drunk sorority type fall down the stairs. And on this night, they had a line up that included Beachwood Sparks, who I have managed to never see before, and have been looking forward to. When we got there the first band, Athalia, was already playing. They reminded me of a cross between shoegaze-type pop and early 90's emo, or more specifically, a mix of Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral, and Swervedriver. That might sound stupid, but it was decent overall. Some of their songs were a bit long winded for my tastes, but I like the general idea they offered. More importantly, the singer/guitarist was wearing a nice suit, and he played his guitar with a bow sometimes. After Athalia finished, I assumed Beachwood Sparks would play next, as only the two bands were listed as playing. But it turns out there would be an extra bad on the bill. Normally, this might bother me a bit. I was excited to see Beachwood Sparks, and it was hot in there. I might have mentioned that before. Anyways, it turns out the middle band was Dntel - a.k.a. Jimmy Tamborello, formerly of the amazing Strictly Ballroom. I was pretty stoked on this, considering the whole extra band situation that was making the show run later than I had hoped. Dntel is really just Jimmy Tamborello, formerly of the amazing Strictly Ballroom, and also known for helping Beachwood Sparks in the studio. The music at hand here is mostly electronic, although he did have some of the Beachwood guys helping him on a few songs, as well as the guitarist for Athalia. The music was very beautiful, but not the most exciting live show to see. It mostly consisted of Jimmy sitting on the floor plugging away at all of his electronic gadgets, and occasionally playing his accordion. The show was made better by my ability to sit down for most of this part of the evening, and the set wasn't terribly long. While this might read as negative, let it be said that it was pretty good considering I usually never expect anything too exciting from live music of this sort. Also, check out his album 'Life Is Full of Possibilities', it is one of my favorite releases of the last couple of years. So I've got that going for me. Finally the Beachwood boys came on the stage to play us some songs. They just recently added a new drummer, another former member of Strictly Ballroom by the name of Jimi Hey. You know how I knew it was him? He had one of those gold necklaces on that said his name on it, so I was convinced. It should also be noted that Chris Gunst, singer and guitarist of the band, was also in Strictly Ballroom. If you do the math, that means that two of the main members of the band, as well as Jimmy Tamborello who helps out occasionally, are all from this phenomenal band. I think they should just change their name from Beachwood Sparks to Strictly Ballsparks! Get it! Man, that's a funny joke. Nonetheless, Jimi Hey is a great drummer and addition to the band. The show was pretty great - they were winding up their nationwide tour, so they were pretty tight from having played so many shows. The song selection spanned all of their releases and included a couple I hadn't heard before. They didn't play that Sade cover, which I'm embarrassed to say is probably my favorite song by them, but I didn't really expect them to anyways. Even my girlfriend, who was quite crabby and tired beforehand, really enjoyed the show. If that's not a sign of goodness then I don't know what is. Now if only that stupid J Church train had still been running after the show was over... ©2002 playinginfog.com |