On Saturday I went to the second day of the 2009 Capitol Hill Block Party. With Hotels on early in the afternoon and Sonic Youth headlining, I knew I didn't want to miss this event. As it happened though, I ended up only seeing one other full set in between, by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but I did catch some of New Faces and The Thermals as well.

Hotels had a short but awesome set inside Neumos early in the afternoon. Despite the heat in the mid-80s, the boys were still dressed professionally in their button-down long-sleeve staff shirts and trousers; also despite the heat, they played to a full house, with people lined up on the balcony as well as filling the main floor. They opened with their new single, "The Bat Watusi", but played no other new ones; no matter, I haven't got tired of the current songs yet. I noticed that they've been making a point of introducing "Farewell to Love", and I like that, pushing the catchy instrumental is a good idea, and it makes me hope they'll do another. There was also a funny moment during that tune when lead singer Blake Madden pretended he was about to sing just as they went into the main guitar "verse". It was a good time and I expect they made a bunch of new fans.

A bit later at the main stage, I listened to The Pains of Being Pure at Heart (I can't say I saw them, because it was impossible to see the stage without being very close up). This indie-rock quartet had been catching my ear on KEXP, so I was interested in hearing them live. Listening to them, I felt they had a really strong late-'80s/early-'90s alternative rock vibe, resembling a blend of The Jesus and Mary Chain with Sugar. The beginning of one song in particular sounded to me a lot like Sugar's "If I Can't Change Your Mind", enough that for a moment I thought they were starting a cover. They did sound very good, particularly the sweet (but a bit drowned-out) male-female dual vocals, and I enjoyed the set.

While having a very tasty pizza from Via Tribunali, I caught the end of New Faces' set on the Vera Project stage. It was long enough to keep me interested in hearing more from them, not long enough to develop more of an opinion about them. I also heard The Thermals' set on the mainstage, but mostly as background music, not really paying attention. My ears did perk up when I recognized they were doing a cover of The Breeders' "Saints", and after that I recognized a couple others as reasonably good catchy singles KEXP's been playing, which was enough to make me think perhaps I should pay them a little more attention in the future.

Throughout the day, KEXP was holding semi-secret performances in Caffé Vita's coffee bean warehouse. I was able to get a pass in to see them, but ended up missing Truckasaurus in order to meet up with a friend. However, we did get in to see a short interview with Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, and Kim Gordon of Sonic Youth. It had been billed as just an interview with Thurston Moore, but at the last minute the other two decided or were asked to join in; unfortunately, this resulted in a rather lame interview as the interviewer (Andrew Matson of the Seattle Times, not a KEXP staff member) was unprepared for them. (That said, I'm not convinced he would've done better with just Thurston Moore.) Still, it was pretty cool to be that close and hear some of their opinions on music and the industry. (Ironically, in response to one question they made rather disparaging remarks about blogging, so you may consider this post to have the Sonic Youth Stamp of Disapproval.) (Also, you can view the entire interview here on the KEXP Blog.)

What wasn't pretty cool, I found to no surprise, was trying to be close up to the stage for their performance. The area was pretty packed already for Gossip, but my friend was determined to be right up front, so when Gossip's set ended we slipped and shoved as best we could as far as we could, getting pretty close. Once there, though, I found that the seething mass of people in the center, deliberately or not, kept pushing outward in waves, causing many people including myself to stagger and nearly fall over. After a few times, I knew there was no way I could possibly ignore that and enjoy the show, so I retreated out of the mob before the band started playing and everyone went truly insane. 

As for Sonic Youth's set itself, to be honest I was distracted by unrelated issues and didn't get to enjoy it much, though I did stay and listen. Once I'd made my way out of the crowd, about a block away, I found that the sound quality didn't seem very good. I had crossed over to the 21+ side of the street, which was less crowded overall, so i gradually made my way back closer to the stage, ending up about half a block away, and the sound did improve closer up. Most of the music was from their latest album, The Eternal, and I did like the ones I recognized from airplay, I just wasn't able to concentrate on the music enough to give it a proper listen. Hopefully I'll have a better opportunity someday to enjoy Sonic Youth in concert.

Again, I'm catching up on my concert reviews, so here's a quick summary of June.

I've already posted before about seeing The Juan MacLean and The Field on Monday June 8 at Nectar Lounge; that review was written for the KEXP Blog and can still be read there. However, let me give a couple excerpts:

Last Monday night when I went to Nectar Lounge to see The Juan MacLean and The Field, I didn’t know that I’d be at the hottest show in town. These two groups played sizzling sets of electronica to a packed and enthusiastic crowd. DJ Nordic Soul warmed up the club with a solid mix of dance music.
[...]
The Field’s music is very cool stuff, and I could easily listen for a few hours; it seems tailor-made for airplane flights, and I’ll have to pick up the aptly-named album From Here We Go Sublime before my next trip.
[...]
While The Field kept the club simmering for an hour, The Juan MacLean brought it up to a full boil with their high-energy synth rock. ... They built up to a stunning conclusion with “Happy House”, extended to over 20 minutes and climaxing several times, and then cooled things down in the encore with the mellow and dreamy “Tonight”.

Also, I was right next to the stage for The Juan Maclean's set, so I was able to get some pretty good photos, including John MacLean in action rocking the theremin. See the whole set here in Flickr.

I went to two other shows that week: KJ Sawka at Nectar Lounge on Friday June 12, and Hotels at the High Dive on Saturday June 13. I had already decided I wasn't going to blog about those shows, so I didn't take any notes. However, I can tell you that Sawka's show was to promote the release of his DrumBanger app for the iPhone (read more about it in this post on Line Out, The Stranger's music blog), and that while I still enjoy his music, I found that I'm getting a little tired of hearing the work from his two recent albums and would like to see him pursue a new direction. Oh I forgot that opening for Sawka was first DJ NoiseMaker, who I can't recall anything about, but then DJ Crime, billed as "Las Vegas's #1 VJ"—he mixed videos, using both music videos and other footage, which was fun to watch as well as hear.

As for the other show, Hotels played third in a set including Anomie Belle, Born Anchors, and (ostensible) headliners Furniture Girls. I reviewed Anomie Belle for the KEXP Blog when she opened for Tricky back in March, and I don't really have anything to add to that: she's got talent and potential, but despite her use of live violin loops, her music currently is kind of bland soulful trip-hop. I can't remember anything about Born Anchors, which suggests I didn't find them that interesting, but I know I didn't dislike them and really I'd have to hear them again to give any kind of review. Hotels were awesome of course and I danced like crazy through their set; I've really just about run out of things to say about them until they release some more new music, which is why I had decided I wouldn't blog about this show, but here I am. Finally, my opinion also hasn't changed much on Furniture Girls: they're fun, the band is really solid, but they just don't quite win me over somehow. However, they did have a strong-voiced guest backup singer for most of the set, which made a real difference as the original Furniture Girls synth-player/backing vocalist doesn't have a voice strong enough to match the lead singer (that original member hasn't been replaced, just moved back to focus more on the synths).

The other two shows were good overall, but I do have to say The Juan MacLean and The Field were a phenomenal bill, definitely one of the best shows of the year.

On Thursday May 7, I went to Chop Suey to see Hotels, with Erik Blood and Silver Teeth. Oddly enough, I had just met Blood the week before through mutual friends at the My Bloody Valentine show, but had no idea who he was until a few days after the fact. Unfortunately the show began earlier than I expected, and I missed Silver Teeth. Chop Suey often seems to start weekday shows on the early side, with the first band playing at 8:30, and while that's a good practice for getting in a crowd who might not normally get to shows, it does tend to throw off the regular concert-goers. Still, I have more than one friend who'd appreciate seeing more clubs set earlier start times for shows.

Erik Blood is a member of Seattle band the Turn-ons, and created his "solo" album for music that didn't fit with that band. However, not only did all the members of the Turn-ons contribute to the album, most if not all of them also joined on stage along with three other musicians for the backing band, creating a seven-piece lineup. Musically, Blood started from a basic mid-'90s alternative rock sound, with influences from shoegaze and pop. His song "To Leave America," which I recognized from KEXP airplay, was a good example of this style. However, he soon showed his skill with a variety of styles and a knack for catchy tunes. Saying he was going to try something different, he played a slow R&B crooner that, most of the way through the song, unexpectedly broke into a lovely shoegazery guitar wash (reminiscent of Kitchens of Distinction, I thought). It was a neat juxtaposition of styles, as was a later song that clearly drew upon '60s pop music. I really enjoyed the whole set, and although I wasn't able to pick up the CD The Way We Live that night, I hope to do so soon.

Hotels are becoming a challenge for me: there are only so many ways to say "I love this band!", after all. Their music is dynamic and complex but fits together with precision; it sounds full, but not overly busy. Often it feels very joyful even when the lyrics are wistful or bitter, and as I've remarked before, it urges the listener to get up and move. Indeed, before playing "Hydra," lead singer Blake declared, "You ought to dance more!", and while no real outright dancing ensued (this was a Seattle hipster audience, after all), there was definitely movement in the audience. Their moodier pieces, such as "The Heart That Hears Like A Bat," have a grand sweep to them not unlike the cinematic cabaret sound of Mono in VCF; it's perhaps not surprising then that their next album, currently in the works, is to have a spy-movie "James Bond in space" theme to it. Much to my delight, they gave us a taste of that next album by debuting a new song, "The Bat Watusi," which was perhaps a bit harder-edged and sounded great. Expect to keep reading more happy reviews of Hotels from me; better yet, go check them out yourself.

On Wednesday March 25, I went to my first show at the newly-renovated and re-opened Crocodile, featuring my current favorite band, Hotels. Three other bands were on the bill: New Faces, Romance, and the Globes.

The Globes are a quartet (vocals/guitar, guitar/vocals, bass/keyboard, drums) who played a solid set of alternative rock with a bit of an art-rock edge. Somehow they reminded me a bit of the Dismemberment Plan, though overall their sound was more of the Minus the Bear type of rock. They sounded fairly polished and I really liked their set; of the three opening bands, the Globes were the one I'm most interested in seeing again.

Romance are another standard rock quartet with a darker post-punk sound, somewhere between Interpol and classic goth rock. Early in their set, their vocals were very murky, and I found it hard to tell whether that was due to me wearing earplugs, me being too close to the stage (under the speakers), or a deliberate choice by the band. Just as I finished making a note to that effect, the sound guy went onstage to swap a microphone cable while people toward the back of the audience cried for the vocals to be turned up. It was a funny commentary on both the band's style and the club's newness, still working out the kinks. Overall I found Romance to be solid and enjoyable if not inventive or exciting, and I do want to hear more from them.

New Faces are a straightforward rock trio on guitar, bass, and drums; the guitarist sang lead vocals and the other two sang backing vocals. A couple of their songs sounded familiar to me, no doubt from being played on KEXP, and they announced that some of the songs were new ones—one of which the drummer quipped was so new that he didn't think he'd ever played it before, but it sounded just as good as the rest. I didn't find them very exciting at first—like Romance, solid and enjoyable, but just not grabby—but I warmed up to them more by the end and decided they're definitely worth seeing again.

Hotels were their usual energetic selves, and seemed pretty excited to be at the new Crocodile. Perhaps a bit too excited, as I noticed they were tending to rush on several of the songs, but it still all sounded great. I was happy that they played the boppy instrumental "Farewell to Love"—which I think of as their theme music, just because it sounds like a corporate jingle—from their first album Thank You For Choosing..., but for the most part they stuck to the current album Where Hearts Go Broke. As the last band on a four-band concert, they suffered the usual late-night audience attrition, and they almost did not play an encore (due to the late hour), but a particularly vocal fan (besides myself) helped convince them to do a couple more. I have nothing to add besides my continued undying love for Hotels and insistence that you should catch them whenever they play.

The new Crocodile's stage and lighting arrangement pose new challenges for my iPhone, but I did get several decent photos of each band, starting here in Flickr. 

Last Friday the 20th, I went to the Sunset Tavern to see two bands celebrate album releases: Heart to Elk, the third album by Point Juncture WA, and Where Hearts Go Broke, the second album by Hotels. Opening the evening was The Animals at Night.

I first saw The Animals at Night just last month, and I don't really have much to add to that review. Once again they played some great dance music, but the club was so packed there was no room to dance. The crowd did seem to be into the music though, which was good for the band. I have a feeling The Animals at Night will be popping up a lot around town and expect it won't be long before I'm seeing them again.

Hotels marked the release of their album by playing it straight through, down to maintaining the segue from "Near the Desert, Near the City" into "Leilani". They also had on hand singer Annie Alldredge to provide her lovely guest vocals on "The Heart That Hears Like A Bat". Unfortunately the sound quality at the Sunset is rather poor, and standing up front near the stage I found the mix lacking. The guitar was a little submerged when it wasn't taking the lead, and overall the crisp interplay of the various parts did not always come through. Still, that was the fault of the venue, and the band made up for it with their energetic and enthusiastic performance. I believe the club was sold out for this show, and I expect that as word gets out, Hotels will be moving up to bigger venues soon.

I've been excited to see Point Juncture WA ever since I started hearing their single "Melon Bird" late last summer on KEXP. The quartet of Amanda Spring (lead vocals, drums), Victor Nash (keyboards, vocals, and trumpet), Skyler Norwood (bass, guitar, vibraphone), and Wilson Vediner (guitar, added percussion) played a mix of indie pop-rock and shoegazer-influenced prog rock. Because Spring does most of the lead vocals, the band had the unusual setup of having the drums front and center on the stage. That setup also made it easier for the band to trade off parts, which they did a few times, Spring taking over vibraphone and bass while Norwood took drums and vocals; Vediner played some vibraphone too and occasionally banged on a cymbal or drum in the midst of songs. The set as a whole felt a lot lighter and more pop-oriented than I had expected, based on "Melon Bird"—which, to my disappointment, they did not play—and reminded me somehow of Imperial Teen. Later I found out that Heart to Elk is their third release, not their debut as I'd thought, so it may be that the more pop-sounding songs were older ones. They did play "Once Tasted Ever Wanted", the other single that KEXP has been spinning, and it had a cool psychedelic/Euro-rock feel to it; some of the others were on the heavier side too, with shoegazer-y distorted guitars. Even so, I was left feeling that had I seen them live first rather than hearing "Melon Bird" on the radio, I wouldn't have been so excited. However, Heart to Elk is a satisfying album and I look forward to hearing more from Point Juncture WA.

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I have another review to write, for Annuals at Chop Suey last Wednesday, and I'll have that up soon. Meanwhile, March is upon us, and I'm currently looking at two shows: Asobi Seksu at Chop Suey on Tuesday March 10, and Simian Mobile Disco at Neumos on Friday March 13. I still need to go through the full listings to see if there's anything else I want to catch. Oh I should mention Hotels are doing an in-store gig at Easy Street Records in West Seattle on Friday March 20. Also noteworthy, the Crocodile has been booking shows starting in late March, and I look forward to seeing the newly-renovated club. Finally, KEXP's Spring Pledge Drive is going on this week; I wouldn't know about so many great bands were it not for them, so I highly recommend making a contribution.

Recently in my notes on upcoming shows, I've been talking up this Friday's show at the Sunset Tavern, an album-release celebration for both Point Juncture WA and for Hotels. I still haven't heard Point Juncture WA's album, just some songs on KEXP, so I don't have much to say about that except that I've been eagerly anticipating seeing them live to learn more about them. However, I'm quite pleased to say that not only do I have Hotels' new album Where Hearts Go Broke, I've written a review of the album which is now featured on the KEXP Blog. So if you're wondering what all the fuss is about Hotels, go read the album review, and come see them this Friday!

Last Sunday I went to the Comet Tavern for yet another show featuring my new favorite local band, Hotels. Headlining the bill was Portland band Tea for Julie, and opening the set before Hotels were two local bands, Pillow Army and Altspeak. Only Hotels were known to me, although I'd heard of Tea for Julie before.

Pillow Army are an unusual quartet featuring acoustic guitar and vocals, violin, cello, and drums. They played a pretty good set of indie pop-rock, with a bit of an art-rock edge due to the strings if nothing else. The strings added a nice color to the sound—but not too nice, getting down and crunchy at times. I liked their sound, and although I think they need a little time to develop some more, I'll be keeping an ear out for them.

Altspeak list themselves as a quartet on their MySpace page: vocals and guitar, guitar, bass, and drums; for this show the vocalist only sang, while an extra person played second guitar. They played a set of modern rock with echoes of mid-'80s Britpop. They reminded me of the Purrs, having some decent songs but overall a generic, unremarkable style; but perhaps like the Purrs, Altspeak will grow on me with more listens.

I'm not much of a fan of the Comet Tavern as a venue, it's simply not built for good sound. This was evident when Hotels played, as they sounded a bit deadened and dull, not as crisp and bright as normal. Even so they still played a good set. The band's slogan of "Travel, Romance, Solitude, Rest" aptly represents the various elements of their style, at times dreamy and distant, at times visceral and vital. Their songs have a memorable quality, instantly recognizable and familiar to me though I've only heard some of them at the three shows I've attended, yet still feeling fun and fresh every time. Thus, I was very excited to hear that Hotels are releasing a new album in February, When Hearts Go Broke, featuring many of these songs, but at the same time I almost don't care because it's enough to enjoy them in the moment of the live show. Still, you can be sure I'll be picking it up, as well as continuing to catch as many live shows by Hotels as I can.

Tea for Julie are the quartet of Michael Deresh (guitar, vocals), Travis Stanek (guitar), Jon Dwyer (bass), and Jad Simpson (drums). Similar to Altspeak, they played a set of '90s-influenced modern pop rock. I found their bright guitar sound and energetic mid-to-up-tempo tunes a little catchier than Altspeak, though. They really won me over when the bassist, seemingly goofing around between songs, started a very familiar bass line and the whole band came in for a really good cover version of the Stone Roses' "I Wanna Be Adored." Their following song—one of their own—also sounded very familiar to me, probably from airplay on KEXP; I believe it was "Hello," in any case it was quite good. They ended with another cover, of Blondie's song "Union City Blue", which sounded rougher and not as good as "I Wanna Be Adored" but was still decent. Like Hotels, Tea for Julie suffered some obvious problems with the venue, as the higher-pitched vocals were lost in the ceiling and the overall sound mix didn't really need to be so loud. Also unsurprisingly, most of the already-small audience left before they started, which was unfortunate: Tea for Julie were pretty good and deserved a better audience. I'll be interested to hear them again some time.

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That's it for December, unless by chance I catch something while I'm back East for the holidays or on New Year's Eve here at home. Not much is on the calendar yet for January, but I see that Point Juncture, WA are playing a show at Neumos on Thursday the 8th; they have some lovely dreampop singles playing on KEXP and I've really looking forward to seeing them live, so looks like I've got a show lined up. I'll be checking the listings for other shows over the next few weeks, and looking for news on the reopening of the Crocodile Cafe, which will be an exciting event.

Last Thursday (the 23rd) I went to the Sunset Tavern to see my new favorite Seattle band, Hotels. Also on the lineup was Motorik—not to be confused with Motorist, who played with Hotels when I saw them in September—and Denelian. I walked in near the end of Denelian's set and only got to hear their last three songs. This indie-rock trio sounded all right, good enough that I'd like to hear a full set some time.

Motorik are a trio on bass and vocals, guitar, and drums. They had a dark, spare, hard rock sound—almost goth, without being goth metal. Judging by the sound, I presumed that all the songs were about obscure cults conducting bloody rituals to placate unspeakable gods of the outer darkness. Their singer was pretty monotonic and seemed to have three pitches, mostly singing low with accents medium and high, but at least was singing. Although they could play well enough, the band felt amateurish in a sense, like they hadn't been together a long time. When the singer introduced a song as "a really old one", I wondered if she meant more than a year. But to be fair, that song was pretty good, and overall I did actually think they were okay and would see them again.

Hotels are the quartet of Blake, Max, Brendan, and Kyle, on bass and lead vocals, guitar, keyboard, and drums. They played a great set of music inspired by '80s New Wave and post-punk but fresh-sounding and original. The band displayed impressive musicianship with their precise, fast playing. The combination of beautiful guitar melodies, complex bass lines, and sold drumming base created a very rich full sound. At times moody, at times joyous, their music is very visceral, encouraging listeners to be in the moment and dance. Unlike Mono In VCF, whose lush cinematic pieces have left me just impatient for more new material despite how much I love it, Hotels are a band I can see over and over in concert without getting tired of their songs and also still eagerly wait for new songs. Although I already owned a copy of their debut CD, Thank You For Choosing..., I made a point of picking up another copy at this show just so I could introduce more of my friends to the band.

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I have a brief review to write for Asobi Seksu last Monday at Nectar Lounge, and then coming up in November a bunch of shows including DJ Spooky, Halou, My Brightest Diamond, Yeasayer, and Annuals. Looking forward to some great shows!

I am so far behind in my concert blogging that I'm just going to do a single summary post for the five shows I went to in September.

First, on September 3 I went to Nectar Lounge to see Hotels, a band I'd discovered when they played the KEXP Volunteer Appreciation Party in August. This quartet immediately became my new favorite local band. They have a strong New Wave/New Romantics sound that mixes in some dreampop too, evoking both early New Order and late Talk Talk. Their songs tended to feel longer than the album versions, but this was a good thing. I'm eagerly looking forward to seeing Hotels at more shows. Also on the set that night was Motorist, another local quartet that played moody indie rock. Although they didn't blow me away like Hotels did, they did sound pretty good - I noted in particular that the lead singer had a nice voice - and they may be a band to watch.

On Saturday the 6th I went to the Showbox SoDo to see TV on the Radio. This band plays idiosyncratic modern rock, on the side of prog/art rock but influenced by alternative bands of the '80s and '90s rather than classic progressive of the '70s. In a sense, TV on the Radio sounded as if the Talking Heads had anticipated the '90s. They mixed in funky bass and drums with guitar distortion somewhere between shoegaze and wall-of-sound; the songs were moody, often ominous, but sometimes more upbeat. There's a lot going on in their music, but unfortunately it was not served well by the poor acoustics and muddy sound mix at the venue. Still, I was glad I got to see them, at the least because it's made me pay more attention to them on KEXP and realize they're a great band that I should watch more closely.

On Saturday the 13th I went to Neumos to see Balkan Beat Box. Also on the bill was The Bad Things and DeLeon, and the common thread of all three bands was playing traditional folk and klezmer music from Eastern Europe and the Middle East in a modern context. The Bad Things were the most traditional, using only acoustic instruments, and they were joined on some songs by three brass players from Orkestar Zirconium. DeLeon brought electricity into the mix, starting out with a rock style heavy enough that I was afraid it'd be a set of metal folk, but they lightened up a bit and proved to be just as fun as The Bad Things. Finally, Balkan Beat Box lived up to their name, playing Balkan and Middle-Eastern folk music as hip-hop. Their set was mostly instrumental, though some songs had lyrics and they also did the hip-hop call-and-response frequently. The absolutely packed crowd was a bit too much for me, though I felt better when I finally found a bit of space off to the side and I ended up mostly enjoying the show, which ended with a big onstage dance party.

On Wednesday the 17th I was back at the Showbox SoDo, this time for the show I'd anticipated the most so far this year, Goldfrapp. Eschewing their glam-rock image from the last tour, this time Alison Goldfrapp dressed as a harlequin, Will Gregory and the backing musicians wore all-white, and the stage had a traveling-circus look to it. Musically, the set begain with a moody quiet song and stayed that way for much of the first half, presumably reflecting the sound of their latest album, Seventh Tree. However, older hits were mixed in too, and the set gradually built to a resounding finish. They brought it down again for two more slow songs in the encore before finishing, as I expected, with "Strict Machine". Being familiar with Goldfrapp's music, I was better able to judge the sound quality at the Showbox SoDo this time than with TV on the Radio, and the space is definitely not friendly to nuanced music: even in the middle of the room beside the soundbooth, the mix still tended to be muddy and was worse during loud busy songs. Despite that, it was still a good show, but the band felt pretty laid back and casual this time, and I believe their last show in 2006 had more energy and enthusiasm and was better overall. Hopefully when they come to town again, they can recapture that excitement.

Finally, on Friday September 26, I went back to Nectar Lounge for KJ Sawka. This was an evening of drum 'n bass and breakbeat electronica, starting with DJ NoiseMaker playing a full set as well as spinning in between the other acts. NoiseMaker lived up to his moniker, as I thought he kept the music too loud when playing between the other acts. His set was bass-heavy and relatively slow rhythmically, inspiring some lurching about on the dance floor. He was followed by EOTO, a duo on keys/synths/guitars/voice and acoustic/electronic drums and congas. EOTO picked up the pace, bringing a groovy beat that got everyone moving, and played a solid 90 minutes of excellent dance music. Only the relatively subtle changes in tempo and sound indicated the transitions from one song to the next. KJ Sawka finished the night with his slightly heavier breakbeat, joined by Kent Halverson on keyboards. Sawka and EOTO's sets were mirrors in an interesting way, as EOTO built complex melodic layers with the keys, synths, and guitars over the solid drumming base, while Sawka's set was naturally and mainly drum-driven, with the keys and other electronics providing color and accents. Perhaps it was the harder edge to the music, or just the lateness of the hour, but I felt more like just listening than dancing and there seemed to be less dancing in general. Also, weirdly, a fight broke out, I believe caused by someone flailing about too wildly near the stage, but the perpetrator was quickly thrown out. Besides that moment of alarm, it was a good show and I had a good time.

I didn't get many good photos at any of these shows, but what I've got are all up in my Sept 08 shows set.