Bottom of the Hill November 6, 2004 Review by Jake Thomas Ye gods! It was a Saturday night packed to the brim with what the kids usually refer to as the “rock” music. First on the bill were local lads Griddle – this was not only a high-profile opening gig for them, but their CD release as well. You always root for the locals, and like a nervous mother hen I was worried not enough folks would be there when Griddle got started. Boy, I couldn’t have been more wrong – as soon as they took the stage people came out of the woodwork, the place was damn near full. As for the band themselves, they effortlessly meld pop and prog together like it was nobody’s business. There was even a hint of glamrock in there…I made myself giggle while watching them when I started imagining their music as the soundtrack to “Hedwig and the Angry Inch pt. 2: The German Impressionist Years”. The crowd was going nuts for them, and that was a good thing to see. Your Code Name Is: Milo was up next, and I knew absolutely nothing about them other than that they had a terrible name. It turns out they are from Newcastle (“land of the brown ale” I believe the singer quipped at one point), and they are seriously good. They don’t even have a record out yet, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they started getting a ton of press if they always sound like they did on this night. It was a winning combination of At the Drive-In/Mars Volta and Blur-ish Brit pop…just the sort of things folks nowadays seem to go ape for. For this band, I’d probably join them. Finally, those Welsh jokesters Mclusky were on the bandstand. They were great when they came through the first time this past summer, certainly one of my favorite shows of the year. This outing was even better. Their sound is a combination of Les Savy Fav, Fugazi, The Jesus Lizard and The Pixies, wrappedup in an extremely irreverent package. Seriously, this is one of the funniest bands I have ever seen – their between song banter had tears of joy coming to my eyes. They played the crowd like a high dollar fiddle, and they loved every second of it. I can reasonably say I’ve not seen very many shows in this town with an audience that animated. The place may have only been three-quarters full, but the crowd cheered and danced around enough to make it feel sold out. A damn fine evening all around. --- ©2004 playinginfog.com |