Cursive / Velvet Teen / Race for Titles
Bottom of the Hill
January 30, 2003

Review by Jake Thomas

I can't believe how crowded this show was. Last time I saw Cursive here (the show before the last one, but I think that last one was canceled due to Tim Kasher's collapsed lung?), there were probably only a hundred people here, maybe a few more. This time, sold out way in advance. Who woulda thunk it?

I got there early so that I could see all the bands, but I missed part of the first one, Race for Titles, because I was standing in this stupid long line outside to get in, the worst line I can ever remember here. I guess since it was all ages, they were being a lot more stringent with the ID checking. Anyways, I finally got in and a found a spot in the crowd. Nothing amazing, but entertaining enough for an opening act. They sounded like a combination of Cursive and The Cure, sort of punk-emo with a bit of swirling brit-pop guitars and a singer with a voice that reminded me of Robert Smith a little bit. Not a bad combination, but it came off as repetitive from time to time.

The middle band was The Velvet Teen. I've never been particularly crazy about them, but they seem to have a pretty large fan base here. I enjoy their guitar songs pretty well, but I've never been able to get into the keyboard ones. Then again, I've never been to crazy about piano driven rock - Billy Joel, Ben Folds, etc. The crowd seemed really into it, I might even hypothesize that as many of them were there for The Velvet Teen as were there for Cursive - although their fan base probably cross over quite a bit. The show wasn't particularly remarkable, until the song before the last, when at the end of the song the singer decided to stage dive into the crowd...and no one caught him. There was a pause and then he started making his way to the stage, and once he was back on stage and the light hit him you could see blood trickling down the side of his face where his eye had either hit his guitar, the floor, or someone. It looked like it really hurt, like he was the losing fighter in a heavyweight boxing match. Despite all that, they played one more song, with the singer wearing a band-aid on his eye. Even if I'm not crazy about the band, you got to give props to them for continuing to play.

Finally, Cursive. I really like this band and was glad that I was finally getting to see them again. 'Domestica' is a truly great record and everyone should at least give it a couple of listens. My only complaint about the show was that they didn't play enough songs off of this album - in particular, 'Radiator Hums', my favorite. But still, I liked all of the new songs, especially the ones that relied heavily on the cello, plus they played a couple of the older, pre-'Domestica' songs that were good to here. And as a special added bonus, they played part of a Miss Elliott song as part of their set... and everyone knows how much Missy rules. They put on a really great, rocking show, one of my favorite in the past few months. If these guys are emo, sign me up for the newsletter.

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Check out our photos and review from previous Vevet Teen shows:
*It should be noted that Daz adores the Velvet Teen
Photos: July 24, 2002 @ Bottom of the Hill
Review: April 29, 2001 @ Bottom of the Hill - translation.music



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