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Hemlock Tavern April 9, 2003 Review by Jake Thomas I'd just like to note here at the first of this little write up that The Sunshine Club opened this show, and from all accounts, were quite good. Since I don't know anything about them and got there right before The Red Thread started, I can't attest to this myself. So like I said, I got there right before the Thread started. They had some vocal problems to start the show off, seemingly with faulty cables of some sort, but soon after had it all sorted out and started on their way to rocking in thatway that they do. They're one of those groups that are hard to describe. Daz claims they are ablend of Aztec Camera and Calexico; I see them as a jazz/lounge version of The Pinetop Seven. I don't think either description does them justice, but it's the best I can really come up with. I guess the best way of deciding if it's the sort of thing you'd like is just to listen to them. You can download a couple of tracks off of their website, or just see them live - they play out fairly often. I've seen them a few times now and I enjoy them a little more every time I see them, and will certainly try and see them again next time they play. Chris Brokaw was the main act. Apparently he had just flown into town that night, and came straight to the show. That's a true rock soldier for you right there! Chris has been in a bunch of different bands, but the most important one to me is Codeine - easily one of my favorite bands from the early nineties. Even though his solo work doesn't sound anything like the Codeine stuff, it was still pretty good. It was just him and an acoustic guitar, usually singing but sometimes just playing instrumental numbers. It was a little off-kilter from your normal singer-songwriter stuff, but not so far out of line that average folks would be put off by it. There were parts that almost made me think of the world music-inspired sounds of Idyll Swords or Libraness, and this was probably my favorite stuff that he played. I didn't have the cash on me to pick up his CD then, but I plan to in the future. All in all, a good Wednesday evening of music at The 'Lock. --- Check out our previous The Red Thread experiences: Photos: September 7, 2002 @ Hemlock Tavern & July 19, 2002 @ Hemlock Tavern ©2003 playinginfog.com |