One thing I realized coming out of the Trail Of The Dead show at The Opera House last Friday was that mosh pits suck. At 33 years old, I don't necessarily feel old but surrounded by a crowd full of late teens/early twentysomethings made me realize that I'm too old for that mosh pit shit. I was pretty close up to the stage for Trail of the Dead's set and I happened to just be on the edge of where the mosh pit started. Fortunately, I didn't get knocked in the head or anything but every now and then I'd find some jerk bumping into me and messing up some of my photo efforts in the process. The lineup on this night featured bands all from Austin, Texas. Swords were up first but I missed their set. Next up were The Octopus Project, a trio made up of two young gents(on guitar/bass guitar/drums) in shirts and ties and a lovely young woman(theremin/keyboards) decked out in a sorta Jetsons/go go-inspired dress. For three people, they created a lot of racket when they wanted to. The drummer started out the set with some furious drumming technique. The songs themselves alternated between spacey, theremin-led arrangements and garagey, distorto-punk numbers. Conrad Keely of Trail of The Dead came up to guest on bass guitar for one tune that had the guitar, bass guitar and theremin playing off each in a drawn out post-rock sort of way. On one tune, the bass guitar came to the forefront, the bassist laying out this great, almost funky, melodic arrangement. The "Project" in their band name is telling; their music seems experimental, sometimes sounding half-finished but still its interesting. Think Death From Above 1979 meets, umm, any band with a theremin.
Trail of The Dead played a furious set of their brand of intense rock n' roll. There was the double-assault of two drummers on many songs. Lead vocalist Conrad Keely and drummer Jason Reece alternated roles at times, when Mr. Reece would step out from behind the drumkit to take control of lead vocals/guitar. Jason was twice the madmen playing guitar and singing than when he was on the drums. At one point, someone(probably just behind me) hocked a loogey onto Jason's shirt. Jason got fucking pissed off, and then leaned over the edge of the stage and threw a couple of punches towards this one dude in the audience. Otherwise, the rest of the set was less eventful. From what I could recognize the set drew mostly from the band's last two major label albums. The band steamrolled through their set. As much as I think they can sound quite dramatic and varied on record, they seemed more interesting in rocking out that night. Too bad. I think their quieter moments can be just as interesting. At the end of their encore, the band invited EVERYONE up onto the stage as the last strains of their sonic assault came to an end. Good set overall but less enjoyable for the all-ages experience. Really kids, mosh pits suck. Learn how to dance. [photos from the show]
You can watch Sloan's new video for "All Used Up" over at vikrecordings.com. [info from sloanmusic.com]
Aeki Tuesday points out that you can view video clips from Beck's appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, where he performed "E-Pro" and "Girl". Low quality videos unfortunately, but hey, beggars can't be choosers.
House of Blues presale for K-os at The Molson Amphitheatre(July 14, 2005) will begin Tuesday April 19 @ NOON. Public On-sale will begin Saturday April 23 @ 11:00am. Tickets are $32.50. All ages show. Hey maybe if were lucky, K-os'll invite the Arts & Crafts crew as openers. For more on the K-os/Arts & Crafts connection check out chartattack.
The Shins played a great show yesterday at the Kool Haus in Toronto. I'll post a review tomorrow hopefully but in the meantime check out chromewaves' review.
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