Edmond Dantes and Hey V Kay @ the Crux (3/2/13)

The intro to this post is gonna be a little long, but bear with me.

I was awfully tempted to check out Go Listen Boise's show at the Crux last Saturday.  However, since I'd already written about Iconoplasty, Hey V Kay and Edmond Dantes a couple of times each, I figured that I'd go with a show across the street at Neurolux instead.  The headliner, Oklahoma band Broncho, had played there last year, but I'd missed them for some reason or another.  The opener, Seattle "Experimental R&B" group Night Beats, sounded promising too.

I arrived at close to 8 pm and found only fifteen or sixteen people there.  That struck me as a little strange.  Then I learned that Night Beats had canceled.  That struck me as a little disappointing.

I plopped down in a booth, drank a couple of beers and read some Yasunari Kawabata.  After two hours had passed, the crowd had built to over forty.  Broncho had arrived and done their soundcheck, but they still hadn't started playing.  That struck me as a little really friggin' lame.

Around 10:20, I decided that I'd had enough.  I paid my tab and walked over to the Crux.

It did my heart good to count over fifty people there.  So did seeing a good chunk of the crowd on their feet and close to the stage.

I got there in time to catch the last bit of Hey V Kay's set.  The beats and synthesizer hooks sounded as enticing as ever, and Karen Havey's low, solemn moan sounded in strong form.  The lights shining up on her and Owen Havey's faces added a suitably dramatic touch.  However, the set wasn't all gloom and ominousness: for a laugh, Havey tossed in a Goat Song cover.  The crowd cawed along most enthusiastically.

Edmond Dantes closed out the night at the Crux.  What a difference a drummer makes.  I already liked Andrew Stensaas's gliding, soulful croon and Ryan Peck's sinuous basslines plenty all by themselves, but Jason Ringelstetter's quick, intricate, hard-driving work behind the kit upped the funk at least twofold.  Also welcome was Joey Corsentino's calm, jazzy trumpet.  When even I wanna start dancing to something, you know it's good.

You can find info on these groups on Facebook and elsewhere online.  Special thanks to Stephanie Coyle and Go Listen Boise.