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The Fillmore June 25, 2003 Review by Jake Thomas This was my second show at the Fillmore in less than a week, after not having gone there in ages. There was only one opener tonight, Buffalo Daughter. I hadn't thought about this band in years, since the glory days of Grand Royal, but I guess they are still around and well liked. The folks that arrived early enough to see them at least; it was a fairly early show, but not too early for a number of folks there to get their dance on. I thought they were ok, but a little too repetitive for my tastes. Their opening song was my favorite, and coincidentally sounded almost exactly like Liquid Liquid's 'Cavern' à you know, that song that Grand Master Flash sampled for the song 'White Lines'. Every time I hear either of those songs that bass line gets stuck in my head for weeks, but that's another story (in fact, I just got it stuck in there by merely mentioning the song - stupid catchy bass line). For the rest of the show, most of Buffalo Daughter's songs landed somewhere between that same Liquid Liquid-style of instrumentation and house music. The best part of the show was the drummer for Buffalo Daughter - fun to watch, and I think if that chubby little Japanese man was any happier he might explode. All in all, it wasn't awful, but pretty forgettable. Blonde Redhead was far from forgettable. For the most part, it didn't stray too far from their albums, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, as their albums are awesome. Their Sonic Youth-meets-Fugazi instrumentation, along with Kazu Makino's emotive, often wailing vocals makes for a heady mix in a live setting. They focused fairly heavily from their more recent (but still more than two years old) album 'Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons', but also managed to throw a few older tracks in there also. The interplay between the onstage couple was interesting to watch, but it really came down to some great music. And fortunately, as is usually the case, the sound at the Fillmore was great. It's very, very rare that I ever have to complain about how things sound when I attend a show there; so kudos to the sound folks for doing a good job. The only negative of the show à despite the nearly sell out crowd, no poster! There's nothing better than a take home prize to reward you for a hard night of music listening. But no dice. Oh well, maybe next time right? ©2003 playinginfog.com |