Last King Outlaw, Lakefriends, Like A Rocket and James Plane Wreck @ the Red Room (6/19/12)

Oy.  Is this what they mean by saturating the market?  In addition to this Atypical Tuesday at the Red Room, there was the Radio Boise Tuesday at Neurolux and a Vagabond Promotions bill at the Shredder.  I suppose that all of these show-going options speaks well of the health of the live music scene nowadays.

I opted to check out the Red Room show for two reasons: 1) I was curious to see how Like A Rocket would go over with the Atypical Tuesday crowd; and 2) I'd never seen the three other bands on the bill.  This show was somewhat sparsely attended (an atypical Tuesday indeed), possibly due to the other shows mentioned above.  The crowd certainly wasn't bad, though, or unreceptive to this night's music.

First up was Last King Outlaw, a reggae trio based here in Boise.  I suppose that it's kinda redundant to commend a reggae group for its groove.  Still, it must be written that the slinky, sinuous skank of Melissa Thomas's bass and David Weatherby's drums greatly pleased the ears of this Barrett brothers fan.  Leader James Thomas's bluesy guitar danced like a butterfly and stung like a swarm of multicolored bees.  His singing wisely eschewed aping Toots Hibbert or Bob Marley and came across instead as just a man speaking to the people.  Ditto his lyrics, which featured plenty of Jah-worship and Babylon-dissing but avoided caricature.


Next up was the Caldwell group Lakefriends, which featured Fountains/Deaf Kid's Matt Stone on guitar and Art Fad/Cat Massacre/Deaf Kid's Jacob Milburn on drums.  Maybe listening to Last King Outlaw spoiled me, but this band's mix of bright, tuneful guitar riffs, simple basslines and hyperactive drumming sounded a little stiff and awkward.  The different elements never quite seemed to mesh together.  However, that could simply mean that they need some more time to blend.  As it stood, the different parts were appealing enough without altogether forming a whole.


Like A Rocket followed Lakefriends.  They delivered their standard solid set, and the two handfuls of people who saw it applauded warmly.  Z.V. House's bass sounded as fluid and propulsive as ever.  Max Klymenko was at the top of his game throughout.  Speedy Gray got off some fiery solos and coaxed Jacob Milburn into coming up on stage and doing the monkey with him.

I really hope that Mr. Milburn doesn't kill me for posting this picture.

After Like A Rocket came James Plane Wreck, a local, four-man outfit.  Their rowdy, punky take on roots rock brought the night's music to a smashing finish.  They backed up their smart lyrics and country-ish melodies with a brawny rhythm section (that's one helluva drummer they've got) and grinding, hacking, slashing guitar riffs.  Their singer's voice more than made up in personality what it may have lacked in range.  There's not a whole lot of info online on these dudes right now, but any Drive-By Truckers fans in the Boise area are advised to keep their eyes out for them.

You can find info about most of these groups on Facebook or elsewhere online.  I couldn't find anything about Lakefriends, but you folks at home can dig up some stuff on one of the dozens of bands that its members are also in.  For info on upcoming Atypical Tuesdays and more, go to www.evilwine.com.