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Great American Music Hall May 3, 2003 Review by Jake Thomas I only intended to get to this show in time for Built to Spill, but my friend had to get there at the start to get in for free so I went along with her. While waiting in line to get in, I hear someone covering The Band. 'Shape I'm In' I believe it was. It was the first band on the bill, The Solace Bros - three guys (from Tucson I believe) who looked like they were having a good time playing. Their sound was a mix of Big Star style power pop and boogie woogie piano rock music; they reminded me a lot of the 70's without sounding like any one particular band. It should also be noted that the singer looked a whole hell of a lot like Mankind (Mick Foley) the professional wrestler, so I automatically liked them even if their music stunk. But it didn't, and they served as a fine opener. They played a little longer than I might have liked, but other than that I have no complaints. The second band was called Draw. I had looked for them before the show on the internet and found jack shit. Turns out they are from Boise, so most likely just friends of Doug Martsch (from Built to Spill) or what not. They sounded like they might fit on a bill with Black Heart Procession or Nick Cave, but some of their tracks were a little more upbeat than either of those peoples might produce. The singer sounded almost identical to the Counting Crows frontman, but don't hold that against them (as far as top 40 crap goes, you could do much much worse than the Counting Crows, and I like the singer's voice). They were a decent listen for the most part, with the more rocking songs being the ones I enjoyed the most. Built to Spill sounded predictably great. They didn't do anything out of the ordinary, no new songs to speak of, ignored all of the requests coming from the irritating audience (sidenote: one of the worst audiences I've had the displeasure of being a part of in a long, long time, and that's all I'm going to say on the matter), and it was still a good show. Not really known for having a particularly mesmerizing stage presence, but yet somehow I find myself fixated every time I see them play, and that's been a lot over the years. They played a lot of their 'hits' like 'Big Dipper' and what not, much to the delight of both myself and the other ninnies there. There was plenty of guitar wankery in that non-irritating Doug Martsch way(one of a very short list of people where I can abide this type of playing). And even though the crowd all around me was lame, I'll be back there again next time they play, only I'll get there early enough to get a seat upstairs, or bring a cattle prod for the downstairs. ©2003 playinginfog.com |