i'm exaggerating a little. two of the three acts i saw did what they did well, it's just not something i would have gone out of my way to see. what i went to see was fairly lacklustre compared to the recorded material. i just didn't have the energy to stay for ice balloons, given that the night was unfolding sort of poorly and it would have meant an overnight; cost benefit analysis came out as "go home". i hope those that stayed enjoyed the set, but i'm not convinced i would have - or at least not enough to have to wait until 8:30 am to go home...
to be clear, i was hoping to catch ice balloons as an opening act - they seemed interesting in that context. but i wouldn't have crossed a border just to see them. and i wasn't keen on staying the night to see them last.
the first band was pulp fiction, and i should start out by saying that they were very competent and everything. you had everything you need for modern progressive metal - the tapping guitarist doing piddly arpeggios, the bassist ripping on geddy lee, the loose feel psych drummer, the out-of-place shoegaze guy...
...and, as a medley, it wasn't half bad. the thing is that's really what it was: a medley of existing material. and, some of it crossed a few lines that you can't get away with. pompeii is iconic.
it was far from terrible, though, it was just exceedingly derivative. they made a big deal about how it was their last show. but, i'd say this was worth not skipping - so long as you know what you're walking in to.
odonis odonis strangely played second, and i may have been the only person in the bar there specifically to see them so the ordering actually did make sense, despite the billing. their newest record is up for a polaris prize, and is worthy of the acclaim. but, it came across rather terribly in a live setting. the set was composed of short, disconnected tracks that were stripped down to their most basic elements. i suppose it worked reasonably well as a blast of noisy post-punk, and i have to acknowledge that the venue was not at all designed for this (or ice balloons for that matter), but i was expecting something a bit more integrated, based on the recordings i'd heard. i'm concluding that the disc may be reaching for them.
https://odonisodonis.bandcamp.com/album/hard-boiled-soft-boiled
the last band i saw was sweat, from flint, which is sort of local. as with the first act, they weren't terrible - it's just that i wouldn't have gone out of my way to see a band like them. at their best, they channeled aspects of swans, but let's not get carried away - they were, overall, fairly generic riffing of the no doom wave whatever variety. again - this is worth not skipping. but i'm not the kid that's going to fall all over this. i'm not going to post a sample because they claimed it was all new material..
i presume ice balloons would have come on next, but i was out around 12:30 when i realized i was only going to catch a few minutes of it if i wanted to get home tonight...
i guess i was hoping for half-hour sets and 15 minute break intervals, which would have had the show done a bit before 1:00, but the bar has a dedicated sound person and he seems to like to take his time. my point is simply that it's greater detail than i'm used to in a bar that size, which lead me to an underestimation of set-up time. hey, it's not like they're checking my bus schedule. and if i was more excited about the closing act, i would have gladly stayed until closing.
ice balloons is some kind of new york supergroup that does slightly avant out-of-date pop. it's a project zappa never did, but without the satire. i don't think anybody really wants irony out of this - despite usually craving it. which is ironic. i probably would have suggested it's worth not skipping...
but, a bunch of bands that are worth not skipping is...
this was also my first night at pj's, and i'm certain i'll be back there. there's some pros and cons in the place. seems like i just have some quirks to get used to.
http://dghjdfsghkrdghdgja.appspot.com/categories/shows/2015/04/25.html
