Segunda-feira 9 Jan 2006, 21h:40
Back to my homestate and favorite town of Portland to see three local based bands just before the new year..
Quasi I had seen before at the same venue, opening for the same headliner a couple years back. They had their great spirit and enthusiasm working for 'em this time, but I didn't think they were as solid as the last time I saw them. It took awhile for them to gather up steam and they didn't really seem to hit top gear until the 6th song or so, which was nearly the end of the set. Quasi is a must see for all Sleater-Kinney fans as you get to check out the multi-instumental talents of Janet Weiss, who played guitar, organ, and her usuall drums (sometimes drums/guitar at the same time), plus her fabulous backing vocals as well.
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks were next and I was pretty excited about seeing Malkmus up close, as I never got a chance to check out Pavement live. I actually got to see him up close before the show as he walked by the entrance line asking if anyone had extra tix. I don't blame him, because he and his Jicks treated the sold out show to some serious slow burn guitar based bluesy stuff, stretching out on almost every song (and verbally noting the "bored guy" in the front row). I was expecting the Pavement-esque type of show with quick hard hitting pop songs, but Malkmus went completely the opposite direction and it was a great sounding set. Baby C'mon was probably my favorite, but the whole slew of 10-12 songs will get me back into his catalog for sure.
Sleater-Kinney is freaking awesome live, I've written about them before and there's not much more to say really. They play with incredible passsion and intensity and get better every time I see 'em. Highlights were the opener The Fox, which could be the best live show/album opener in recent memory, and the majority of the latest album songs that ruled the set. They did dig back for Little Mouth during the encore which was introduced as " a very old song" appropriately since it's off of 1996's Call The Doctor. Then they ended with the same cover tune that they ended with last time I saw them in Portland, Fortunate Son, which is of course the CCR tune. They were joined by Malkmus and the Jicks on that one, with the Jicks running around willy-nilly banging on percussion stuff. However what really made the song awesome was Malkmus kneeling down by an amp producing an ear splitting wail of feedback that served as the musical bed of the tune. A great end to a great night of music.
By the way, anyone else been to a show at the Cyrstal Ballroom in Portland? A great venue with lots of room and tasty beer, but the sound in that joint is terrible! Everytime I go to a show there it's a chore to clearly hear any seperation between instruments or decipher any lyrics at all. Yikes!