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Upsilon Acrux / Caesura / The Coachwhips The Lies / The Church Steps The Eagle June 14, 2001 Review by Squid The inaugural gig of the 5th Annual Mission Creek Music Festival was hands down the most fun we've had at a gig in ages. The Eagle is a dark wooden cavebar with mysterious metallic paraphernalia coming out of the ceiling. (Think NocNoc with far more threatening interior design.) Should you need some clueing in as to the standard clientele, there's plenty of biker paraphernalia and artwork featuring large hirsute men to acclimate you. The main stage features a suspended bike...and the ladies room in its right hand corner. Nothing removes the pretense from an indie rock show like women stepping thru a band's set-up after a trip to the loo. (Squid actually found it to be a hilarious icebreaking technique and method for interrogating band members.) The opposite end of the bar opens out into a patio area with a few different stall-like areas to sit. Off to one side was a huge flaming BBQ pit and small concrete section that ended up becoming a stage. (Remember the BBQ pit, it's important.) Lots of room to move around, and, remarkably, stay outside what with all the heat lamps everywhere. Upsilon Acrux were almost too good. No, really. Squid feels immense amounts of pity for any jazzcore fans who were not at this show. If you like the Ruins, Boredoms, Magma and Zorn et al., you should've been at this show. Most especially because you would've found yourself staring at a group of guys who don't even look old enough to be in a bar, let alone execute with the complexity of seasoned savants. Two drummers with their kits tuned to different pitches provide the shifty backbone for this jazznoise fest. Drummer Jesse Klecker's set, had these crazy fluted toms with a wooden finish that looked absolutely Scandinavian and filled in the low end of their sound. This paired with the kit of Derek Bruns, (which Squid didn't get to ask about, since it was her turn in to use the restroom), added an dense complexity to their set. Mike Caesura, (also a drummer dontcha know) remarked on how the last time he saw them, they were only a trio and how great they are. Throw in their guitarist Paul Lai who kept his back to the audience and concentrated on throwing out undulating ripples of sound that really spoke to their love of King Crimson and All Things Fripp. Wait, we haven't even told you about Erick Kiesnowski on bass, who displayed virtuosity that actually made Squid nervous in a Faustian sense. And just in case things got too antiseptic, there was Nick Lejejs on moog to reel things in with short siren blasts of melody. If you're kicking yourself for missing this, you should be. Pick up their album, 'In the Acrux of the Upsilon King' for a little taste of the thrill ride ya missed. The Coachwhips were fun, the Coachwhips were loud, and the Coachwhips were seen three or four times throughout the evening! The majority of folks around me felt comfortable with the assessment of "a cross between Cramps and Doo Rag". (Throw in yer other fave garage blues band if needed...Josh's pick was Demolition Doll Rods.) They were set up out back in the corner of the patio. The Coachwhips are technically a trio composed of John from Pink and Brown and Dig That Body Up, It's Alive, a drummer, and a percussionist who gets to manhandle one of those huge Trini Lopezish gourd like shaker things. She gets mad props for that full body aerobic workout, the thing was massive. They were joined on a few songs by a saxophonist and on all their songs by "the dude in the easy chair", who was mysteriously placed directly between the BBQ pit and the Asian rug that the band were performing on. He was, to Squid's mind sort of the 'Bez' or 'Mr. Wendell' of the Coachwhips. Brad and Squid now want to start a band for the sole purpose of having a person on stage who simply sits in one place observing the interaction of all the other members of the band. Anyway, these kids had the coolest job in the world: play four or five trashamped bluesy numbers between all the other band's sets. It was genius, both for them and the other bands in question. For one thing, there was no downtime where you sat around waiting through another set-up. Two stages gave the whole thing a South by Southwest 'as many bands as possible' vibe that we really loved. The second a band was done, everyone poured outside for another round of drinking, talking, smoking and most importantly, rocking, coz the Coachwhips were very, very good at what they do. And it got better the more drunk everyone got, hopefully band included. During their last set, John tired of simply jumping around with the audience and leaped on to the BBQ pit in true Outdoor Rock God style. He then attempted to light his guitar on fire as though it were a gigantic musical shish kebab. We never found out if the soles of his tennies melted. Rad! Caesura were certainly the band that many came to see, a fact evidenced by the number of people who pushed their way to the front when they got ready to play. And it's getting harder to write about these folks in a non-biased manner, coz we think they fuckin' rock. They chose to steer clear of their year-old ep,"Escape Equals Light" and instead caused a mighty banging of heads (okay, more like intense indie nodding) with selections of new material that they'll start recording next week. Seeing them for the second time enabled us to get a better grasp of the details that make this such a fantastic band, like singer/guitarist Evan Rehill's voice that can jump from a sweet rumble to a scream in just seconds. Don't miss them on at the Minnow in Alameda June 28th and on KALX on July 7th. Make sure and ask the drummer for stickers. Like a lot of bands on Kill Rock Stars, everyone in The Lies has been in bunch of other bands. Most of this San Francisco band were in The Bonnot Gang, (with Bangs member Maggie Vale) and other groups like Heavens To Betsy and Weakling. The Lies, who sounded to us like a sweetened Joy Division, held the attention of a packed house. The Church Steps are Chris Douglas (aka OST) and Dial Records founder Mike Donovan. They were a lo-fi and somewhat laptopcentric mix of loops, acoustic guitar and quiet vocals. Squid thought they'd be a good addition to one of those anti-social nights when it's just you and an old friend sitting at the bar gettin' hammered. Daz, (aka Our Beloved Queen of Sadcore) really liked them and would see them again, particularly since there were difficulties with the speakers (one of which had to be changed out mid-song) that partially disrupted the flow of their set. The Church Steps fall nicely into Daz' sadcore/electronica leanings and she would love to hear their recorded stuff. She sees a lot of potential with these folks. Word up to all the people who worked so hard to make this a kickass night of music, especially Jeff "The Hippie" Ray. Jeff, yer an inspiration. An absolute roadmap of the path to self-destruction via event planning, but an inspiration just the same. -- Read our Caesura review from the translation.music. Compilation CD Release show at the Bottom of the Hill, April 29, 2001. |