The first band was already playing when I arrived. I don't even know their name, to be honest. The guitar player had some pretty good song ideas and a strong voice, but the rhythm section was pretty pedestrian. I actually felt sorry for them at one point, because the crowd was not particularly patient nor welcoming, and at one point someone yelled "you f#@king suck." That's harsh for someone to hear regardless of how "ready-for-stage" they may or may not be.
Up next was Cantona, who I've only managed to see once previous (at one of last year's Studio 66. I enjoyed them quite a bit last fall. Tonight they were short one member -- the bass player, who was stuck in New York. A show like this makes you realize how much the bass guitar is needed. I'm not talking about a group like The White Stripes or locals The Snakebites, where there is a purposeful absence of bass. Rather, when a group normally has bass (and has all their songs prepared thusly) is all of a sudden lacking in that department, it's obvious. Cantona did as well as could be expected under the circumstances. But, even as a fan, it was lacking.
Cantona - Leslie Beattie
Shorthand For Epic came on next. But, before I talk about their show, I want to get a chuckle at either Brooke's or my expense.. not sure which. I was leaning against the wall under the big neon "C" next to the stage as she brought her keyboard stuff into the room. As she walked past me, I said in a fake, deep voice, "hey lady." Well, she proceeded to stick her keyboard stand into my sternum, thinking I was some random lame dude.
In fact I was a specific lame dude. But, funny that she didn't recognize until they were almost playing their show that it was me, at which point she walked off stage and came over to apologize and say a real hello. It was a funny moment. But, note to self, be less convincing as the creepy deep voiced guy. :)
Anyway, once they started up, they rocked the house. They've always been good, but I think they've been practicing, as they were as tight as I've ever seen them. Stormi rocks the drums... she's a little loose at times, but is 100% going for it at all times, which I love. They provided the most rocking set of the night. I was going to say if I have any complaints about SfE it's that their songs are too long, but if you have the word "epic" in your band name, I suppose that's to be expected.
Shorthand for Epic - Larry and Brooke, laughing as a song ends
Shorthand For Epic - Billy from down low
Shorthand For Epic - Billy from up high
Closing out the night were the Hot Toddies from California. They have obviously made a splash here in town by having a song called Seattle (in addition, of course, to just being catchy and good), which contains the lyric "I get so horny when I'm in Seattle." The crowd went nuts when they played it (smartly done 2nd in the set to avoid some of the less cool folks [read, jerkwads] in the crowd from starting to call for it). The crowd felt a little icky at times, like a bunch of dudes hooting and hollering at cute girls.
Of course, in this instance, the cute girls are on stage and playing bouncy and fun pop tunes that are thoroughly modern in their lyrical content but backed by 60 pop melodies. I don't know if the Shangri Las ever envisioned singing something along the lines of "w w w, sha la la la, dot com." But, there it was. Cute, campy, catchy, and I was done after 6 songs because it was late on a friday and I suck.
The Hot Toddies - Jessica
The Hot Toddies - Sylvia
