The Committee to Keep Music Evil Forum

Well I really hated myself for not bringing my camera to the club formerly known as Spaceland when the QA were on the bill with the Lovetones and Asteroid #4, so I made sure not to miss them the next time they played. And I would have loved to have I pint that night, but couldn't because I had a long drive back to the OC after the show.

shybox, he said he was staying around three weeks. just a vacation, no shows or anything.

Thanks for the info, but damn... I was hoping that the rest of the band would be heading this way in preparation for an appearance at Austin Psych Fest 4. Oh well, maybe it will still happen anyway.

In the past month... well, it's been a little repetitive but I'm not complaining. I'm still relying on public transport to get to and from gigs so I'm lucky the bands I've wanted to see have usually been the support - I've had to miss a lot of headliners.

Spindrift in Costa Mesa - excellent, excellent show. Lovely to see some of the old songs (Legend of God's Gun, Beauty) making their way back into the set.

Sacha Lucashenko - I wasn't sure about seeing him sing without Martin but, you know, it worked. And it was lovely, as you'll know from Sirago17's videos, though they lack the stench of burnt hair - I accidentally set my hair alight just before the set started. I missed the Quarter After that night because I skipped out to see....

Spindrift at 1269 Gallery - less technically perfect but more fun than Costa Mesa, and they made it all the way through Space Vixens. They premiered the video of Confusion Range straight after the set. For me, that was a bit of an unfortunate way to end the night - I don't like that video at all.

Spindrift & Sky Parade at the Bordello - supporting Gram Rabbit (who I had to miss). I loved the venue - plush curtains and strange gargoyle heads. Spindrift were great as always (I have a video which I'll post if it's halfway decent). I can't get into Sky Parade though. I will say they are much better when Bobby Bones is on bass but they seem to lack something - I just feel they are less than the sum of their parts.

Quarter After acoustic at the Cinema Bar - this was a last minute show with no bass or drums - just Dominic, Rob and Christof, plus Nelson on percussion. If someone told me that line up was going to attempt Taken with three acoustic guitars, a tambourine and a drum, I would have said that was an extremely bad idea. But you know what? It rocked.

Exploding Flowers at 3 of Clubs - I really liked The Moon Upstairs when I saw them 2 years ago - they had evolved since their album came out. I'd hoped EF would be the same type of thing but they weren't. They were okay. I was just hoping for something more up my street. I had an urge to go home and listen to Hurrah! records. We'll see.

Boyscout Jamboree at Footsies - This was KP, Luke and James from Spindrift. There were some Spindrift tracks (When I Was Free, Shortening Bread), a few things I'd heard from Bluniform previously (Hawaiian Christmas, The Gunfighter) and some covers (Bessame Mucho??!). It was a fun night but in a disorganised, chaotic, guilty pleasure sort of way.

Chief Nowhere at the Redwood Bar - Another case where I was expecting one thing and got another - they've changed since I last saw them. The keyboard player has gone so there's bass and second guitar now and more vocals than I remember. I enjoyed it but I didn't even realise it was them until they announced who they were. Oops.

Fauna Valetta at Casey's. I still can't get into their record but I liked their sound and I enjoyed watching them play.

Hey Gia. Was that Chief Nowhere last Thursday night? If so, I must be frickin' blind. Such a small place, and I didn't see you. We left immediately after CN finished their set.

Yeah it was. I got there after Chief Nowhere had started and you went straight after, off to another bar you said?

Wow, quite a list Gia !!!

Well, you USofA people are in for a treat.......saw Black Angels the other night & they were on fire !!!!

Great sound as well

Saw Ricky hanging with the band at a pub after the show.

Also gave me the chance to buy Austin Psychefest 3 Dvd which is rather cool.

SWANS and Wooden Wand, Regency Ballroom, SF
Wooden Wand were 3 guitarists doing electric folk blues. They, unfortunately, suffered from being NOT SWANS. Seriously, though, they were pretty good (though my friend thought they really needed a drummer). I think under different circumstances I'll like them quite a bit more. I just kicked down some money for their new record on Kickstarter - http://kck.st/f1xUfu

SWANS...
around 9:15 or so, the percussionist came out and turned a drone machine of some kind. Keep in mind, the house lights and pre-show music were still going. After about another 10-15 minutes, the steel guitarist came out and switched on a drone machine. Then, the drummer came out and started noodling on a glockenspeil (possibly...couldn't quite see). Then the percussionist came back out and started playing the orchestra bells. Then, Mr. steel guy and Mr. bass guy came out (I forget which came first) and started noodling, rumbling, and feeding back. At times I thought we were having an earthquake. Then out come Michael Gira and Norman Westberg to much applause. Then they started an almost groovey jam with many James Brown-esque "hit me x times" breakdowns...
Finally, they stopped. Then, around 10:00 or a little after, the first "proper" song started!
And it just got better.
I'm not familiar enough with the new album's song titles yet, but most of it was played - I recognized "Jim", "Little Mouth" (which was the encore), and the live arrangement of "Eden Prison". A particularly intense (but slightly too fast for my tastes) rendition of "Sex, God, Sex" was the highlight for me. All in all, they played about 2 1/2 hours.
Time well spent.
And Michael Gira came out to chat with people and sign stuff at the merch table. Seems quite nice. He chuckled when I told him my first exposure to Swans was the New Mind video on MTV back in 88 or whenever...
Memorable MG quotes (paraphrased):
"We don't do that agression stuff anymore. Now it's all peace and love! So FUCK YOU, CUNT HOLES!!... (laughter)...My band is often appalled to be up on stage with me."
"I love San Francisco...I came here in '78 to audition for Flipper. I didn't get the job."

Sounds interesting Sirago17. If you know of the Swans playing in LA, give my tired-mind a reminder.

D'oh! They were at the El Rey on the 2nd!! Mr. Gira mentioned they had material for another new record, so hopefully they'll tour that one...

Hmmm, the story of my life: a day late and a dime short...

Saw a very unique band last night called Alejandro's Awesaome Surf Band...Holy shit! No vocals, 3-piece band that puts out the most moving sound...not at all boring after the first few surf songs. Absolutely a master of the fret-board, up-and-down, chords and riffs that are frickin full of energy, power and cool melody. Backed by the QAs drummer, Joel, a beat that cranks and a bass player that I didn't recognize but was super. I think the band expected the bass player to be DA from the QA, but he didn't show up...

Still really good and highly recommended.

Let us know the next time they gig, GM. I'll check it out.
md

White Noise sound / The Graceful Slicks
Oxford - Jericho Tavern 4/03/11

I've been loving the WNS album and they were great live, so loud, I have not seen anyone mention them on here (i might be wrong) but check them out, support was from Oxford Psych band The Graceful Slicks, thought they were really entertaining and had some original sounds, also worth checking out!

the meek/black ryder show was really really cool. gm and mikedimages did you guys get a chance to check it out?