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Slim's October 6, 2002 Review by Jake Thomas I wasn't even planning on seeing the Doves this time around. They played Great American last time, and it was a decent show, but didn't get me all hot and bothered as I might have hoped. Then I saw that they were playing the Fillmore this time around, and I had marked it off my calendar. It takes a pretty important band in my life to get me to the Fillmore or the Warfield. Not that the shows I have ever seen at these venues are bad, but there is something too impersonal about seeing live music in a room that large. But then something nice happened - a somewhat last minute show was added for the tour at Slim's, and even better is that My Morning Jacket were opening. I believe they were also playing at the Fillmore show, but I hadn't even looked into it thoroughly enough to find that out. Truth be told, I was more excited about seeing these guys than Doves; and even though the show was a little costly for my tastes, the proposition of this bill at a place the size of Slim's had me excited. When I showed up My Morning Jacket was already playing. Shit. From the length of the set they played after I arrived, I can't imagine they had been playing for very long before I got there. Have I mentioned how much I love this band? Go buy their most recent full length, 'At Dawn'’ and see what all my fuss is about. And if you can find the version that has the bonus disc of the singer, Jim James, doing acoustic versions of the songs on the album, you're golden. Jim has one of the best voices to appear out of the ether in the last ten years (if not longer) as far as I'm concerned. My Morning Jacket blend the sounds of the Flaming Lips, Neil Young, Sparklehorse, and a little bit of country twang. And tonight they were on top of their game, not that I've seen them any other way. Most of the songs were from 'At Dawn'’ with a few other random numbers scattered in here and there. One of the great things about their live show is the fact that you can't see any of the band member's faces while they are playing, because they are slinging their heads back and forth in the headbangin’ fashion that is all the rage with the kids. Even when Jim is singing, he just leaves all his hair in his face so he looks like a wookie or a muppet or some sort of crazy creature up on the stage. I was extremely impressed with their show, and wished they had played a little longer, which is an oddity because I usually think bands play for too long. After they played, I went to the merch table to purchase their new EP 'Chocolate and Ice' and a bumper sticker for my car. Hey, cars like to get presents too. There was a guy who clearly appeared to be there for Doves, but was buying every single release that My Morning Jacket had on the table, claiming they were his new favorite band. I think that says a lot about these guys, given how different their sound is from what most Doves fans came to see. I'd like to hope that they had that effect on more than just that guy, but you never know. There are a lot of dumb people out there. After a lengthy set up time that took more roadies than there were people in the band, Doves finally hit the stage. They put on the sort of show that was good, but not great. That's how I feel about most of their music too - I like it, but it doesn't necessarily get me excited. Great music for putting on the background when you're doing something else. I'm sure some would take that as an insult, but at least it's getting listened to! Sheesh, get off my back already! Anyways, they had more crap on that stage than I've ever seen, including lots of laser lights and a big screen in the back of them where they were showing videos, which wa a nice addition. A multi-media extravaganza, if you will. The played a pretty even mix of songs between both their first release 'Lost Souls' and their new one 'The Last Broadcast'’ They played my favorite song from each album 'Catch the Sun' and 'There Goes the Fear'’ respectively. That certainly made me happy. The crowd seemed pretty into it - lots of booty shaking for a crowd of what I would assume are generally non-booty shaking type people. I left after they finished their set and before the encore - I had heard the songs I wanted to hear, and was getting sleepy. But it was great seeing Doves at Slim's, as I can imagine they will only get bigger and bigger, graduating on to larger venues that I won't be able to talk myself into attending. ©2002 playinginfog.com |