Thursday, January 22, 2004

Holy fuck.

The Spiders killed last night. Just totally demolished the rock and/or roll.

If you’re not familiar with the band, imagine Cobra Verde and Fu Manchu traveling in two different directions and slamming into each other head on. Now throw in a dash of Texas sass. That’s kind of what the Spiders were like.

I admit I was worried about doing a Wednesday night show at The Note – my previous employer – since it’s pretty tough to get a crowd out for local bands and an out-of-towner almost no one has ever heard of. Hell, the only reason I knew who The Spiders were was due to my experience with them at SXSW a few years ago. I’m glad I took the plunge though and accepted the challenge of putting together a bill around ‘em. They seemed pretty happy too since their booking agent -- who is a really nice guy as well -- primarily deals with stoner rock acts, The Spiders keep getting slapped in the middle of these metal bills. Their guitar player told me last night that it was really refreshing to play of a bill of such disparate acts like the one I put together last night.

As for the other acts, they too stood up and made a wall of noise. American Cosmonaut continues to break in their new bassist and move further away from the shuffling late ‘80s Manchester influences. Their sound last night was no less groovy than before but there is an added heft that is cementing itself to their songs.

Suffrajett continued to astound me as they just poured out slabs of guitar punctuated by Simi’s distinctive vocals. It’s nice to see a band wallowing in New York attitude prove their worth and justifiably assume the mantle of “fucking rock and/or rollers.”

The Cells closed out the show and while they were worried about following the heavy one-two punch of Suffrajett and The Spiders I think they more than proved themselves. Now a three-piece the group is louder, brasher and heavier than they used to be. Cory Hance’s songs have begun to migrate further from the fields of shiny pop and have begun exploring thicker and thornier jungles with terrific results. Their racket was so thick it virtually rolled off the stage and immersed the crowd.

Yup, for all my tension and worry that the show wouldn’t go well I think it’s safe to say last night fucking rocked.

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