The House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
Friday, June 1st, 2001
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Bimbo's, San Francisco, CA
June 3rd, 2001
Photos
Review by Squid
You would think that going to as many shows as we do, there would be very little room for regret here at playinginfog. Wrong! Obviously you haven't read our SXSW section, wherein we were denied the chance to see The Kingsbury Manx due to the serious illness of one of the band members. The one time we had seen them, they had kicked ass, even missing a member from their line-up due to unforeseen circumstances. We were interested in making up for lost shows, hence the decision to take Friday off and drive down to Anaheim to see them at the House of Blues. The treacherous heat-blistered trip down on the 5 (in Squid's black car) is a story for a different time; let's just say we finally made it there.
The House of Blues is a Walt Disney owned and operated chain akin to The Hard Rock family of hotels and restaurants. We're not really sure how this place, which was like a Chili's with live music, has managed to lure all the bands that it has, because live music was obviously not a primary focus or concern of the people who worked there. (Band members related stories of how irritatingly difficult the load-in process was for this very reason.) This was most evident when we realized that this line-up of Calexico and The Kingsbury Manx, the same one that would be selling out Bimbo's in San Francisco, was relegated to the corner of a patio bar. Granted, it made for a rare, intimate ambience, what with the 'amps on Asian rugs' look that a space of this nature necessarily exudes. This particular bar, however, happened to be crammed full of drunken attendees of, no joke, a Urologist's convention. We only know this because of the bevy of inebriated, shouting, chain-smoking women standing behind us who kept pulling the poor Calexico fan next to us into their photos. Thank God for amplifiers. Let's talk about the bands.
The first time Daz saw Calexico was a few years ago, they played the GAMH. They had two screens showing old Alamo style movies and desert landscapes that suited the cinematic nature of their predominantly instrumental music. She liked it enough to check them out at the same place the next time they came to town, but wasn't particularly blown away. That's why she, (and many other fans that we talked to at both shows), was so taken aback by Calexico this time around. In Daz' words, "My god, what happened? They're like a completely different band altogether. They were extremely tight and all the songs sounded amazing! I thought first, okay, it's cozy atmosphere and great sound, but at Bimboís it was a repeat ace performance". Brad, who came out of the Bimboís show wide-eyed, seconded all this. "Whoa, I hadn't realized that Calexico, had gotten so..." here he distractedly searched for the right word, "uh...great!" Terrence, another big fan, rightfully likened their set to an Ennio Morricone tribute in the best possible sense of the phrase. Squid did indeed notice the extreme slickness of Calexico's sound, emphasized by the mariachi-style arrangements of the trumpets and the twang of Lambchopís Paul Niehaus on lap steel. She watched in wonder as people just about banged their heads to this Latin-flavored mix that sounded like a night in Tijuana with Dick Dale.
The The Kingsbury Manxís self-titled debut album is, for all intents and purposes, an indie urban legend. This Chapel Hill quartet seemed to come out of nowhere to quietly release one the most incredible albums of last year. We ourselves were in complete awe of this microcosm of folksy daydreams that recalls Nick Drake, The Beach Boys, The Velvet Underground and early Pink Floyd. (We donít throw those names around lightly, just so ya know.) Each song has itís own distinct personality, but together they form an ethereal sweep of finger picked melodies and hushed, laconic vocals. Like many bands that produce ambience rich records, one of their biggest challenges was taking their sound on the road. Happily, the members of the band have worked with their songs long enough now to totally nail them in front of an audience. During ëRegular Handsí subtle touches like the trademark vocal interactions between guitarists Bill Taylor and Kenneth Stephenson were pretty much seamless. Drummer Ryan Richardson is allegedly a self-taught drummer, but that didnít keep him from kicking out the shuffles and meditative rhythms that center every tune the Manx slide through. This was particularly noticeable in the instrumental ëBlue Eurasiansí, a kaleidoscopic collision of slide guitar and cymbals. Live, TKM used this song as their calling card: it builds to a massive crash, then quickly disintegrates back into a near silence before daring to repeat the entire process again. A nervy move in the world of the three-minute pop song, and it works like a charm. Adding pal Clarque Albert Blomquist to the live line-up as bassist enabled Scott Myers to concentrate on keyboards and the occasional additional guitar part. Myers, also an artist, is responsible for the geometrically bucolic painting on the album cover. After talking with them for a while, we started to understand how TKM had simply just appeared on the pop music landscape. This is a group of friends that have essentially grown up together, and, for the past five years, recorded together. Taylor and Myers, who share a place back in Chapel Hill, explained that free time is spent constantly playing or painting. Indeed, this is a band with a work ethic. Last year, already touring as a trio in Myersí absence, guitarist Kenneth Stephenson was hospitalized with a serious health scare. Not ones to just cancel, The Kingsbury Manx played their one and only performance as a duo, featuring Taylor and Richardson. Itís this kind of super pragmatism that enabled them to sit tight until they felt their album was perfect enough for release. Not ones to rest on their laurels, the Manx are still trying out new things live. Taylor was sending Squid into fits telling her about songs that they ëalmostí played, like the honey-coated, shyly sung ëNew Old Friend Bluesí or the amazing acapella Beach Boys blowout, ëHawaii in Ten Secondsí. Explained Taylor, "Weíre going to need to totally mess it up live a few times live then weíll have it." No matter. The new album will be released in September on Howard Greynoldís wonderful Overcoat label. Theyíll be back soon afterwards to tour behind it, and our wishes to hear even more of The Kingsbury Manx will be granted.
The Kingsbury Manx House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
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The Kingsbury Manx Bimbo's, San Francisco, CA
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Calexico House of Blues, Anaheim, CA
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Calexico Bimbo's, San Francisco, CA
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