Long Winters releases CD in hell....

... okay so it wasn't in hell. But, it sure was uncomfortably hot!

I started to write a blog post about how the whole night was uncomfortable for me -- the heat, the couple in their 40s making out in front of me for like an hour as if they were 14, the girl who was dancing a little too close to my bar stool without realizing she was giving me a lap dance -- but then I figured I'd be wasting your time.

So, instead, let's talk about the music. The Lake Society opened the show. I've got to admit they confused me a little. I could tell that somewhere in there, there was a straight ahead rock band lurking. But, that straight ahead rock band seemed to be hidden beneath a bevy of odd time signatures and quirky choruses. At one point I thought to myself, this is what it would sound like if the Minutemen were jamming with the J. Geils Band. It was a solid set. But, I'm not sure the two sides fully gelled, and I kept expecting one or the other to take over.

Up next was Tim Seely, which is a band that also happens to be the name of the main guy in the band. And what a delightfully odd mix of instruments and genres at play here! The group is made up of guitar, drums, a multi-instrumentalist on pedal steel, mandolin, and guitar, and a keyboardist who provided most of the bass frequencies on a microkorg -- and I'm pretty sure there were some backing tracks with drum loops, violins and vocals flying around, too. It was like indie rock and alt-country smashed together, and something (although i can't pinpoint exactly what) makes me think they could be big with the "jam band" crowd. But, it was a wholly enjoyable set.

By the time the Long Winters got on stage, fatigue had set in, which is a shame, because I like these guys a lot. Unfortunately, I only made it about 5 songs into their performance before having to flee for cooler climates and fresher oxygen. But, the 5 songs that I was able to experience did not disappoint. It was obviously their night and the had-to-be-capacity crowd roared in approval when they took the stage and, especially, when they played "pushover."

Since this was the Long Winters CD release, they pulled heavily from that track listing (see my previous post for the online sampling of the new record). Run out a buy a copy on Tuesday!