I'd never heard Weatherbox and LA Font before. This, of course, gave me all the reason I needed to check this show out. The chance to see A Sea of Glass again was a nice bonus.
I counted thirty-five people at the Red Room when I arrived. When Weatherbox played, not more than fifteen or sixteen people were watching them. Bummer, but it happens.
A Sea of Glass opened the show. The audience stood a few feet away from the stage during this set. In a way, I found that fitting. There's a certain fragile majesty to this group's music; it's grand and soaring, but it feels as if it could vanish if you get too close to it. The ebb and flow of their surging rhythms, airy guitar, swooning violin and angelic vocals sounded as gorgeous as it did the past two times that I've heard them. The moments when Joseph Lyle didn't quite hit those high notes just added a nice human touch.
LA Font played next. I dig pretty melodies and twang-jangle-and-drone as much as the next guy. If you ask me, however, it's the bass and drums that separate the men/women from the boys/girls when it comes to 60's/70's pop/surf/garage knock-offs. This L.A. (Echo Park, to be precise) band was a perfect case in point. The sunny tunes were plenty catchy and Danny Bobbe and Jon Perry's guitars plenty sharp, but they wouldn't have gotten as far without Greg Katz's tuneful basslines and Harlow Rodriguez's smooth, strong drumming pushing them forward. The smart lyrics were a nice bonus. And sure, Bobbe may have sounded like an a**hole, but I'll take punky sneer over indie reediness most any day.
Besides, anybody with merch like this can't be too bad. Go Dodgers!
Weatherbox closed out the night. This San Diego band's mix of poppy melodies, grinding riffs and galloping drums struck a fascinating balance between thunderous and light or even playful. The pockets of space in their sound (riff-riff-stop riff-riff-stop, quiet verses and LOUD choruses) probably helped. It really was too bad that more people didn't stay to check them out. At least they got some good whoops and cheers from those who did as well as an offer to put them up for the night.
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