a.k.a. Belle, Brett Hawkins, Calico and Woodwind @ the Crux (11/1/13)

This show was a two-birds-one-stone opportunity for me and my lady-friend: it gave us the chance to see a show at the Crux, which she hadn't done before, and to see a.k.a. Belle, about whom I'd chewed off a decently sized portion of her ear.  As an added bonus, this gave us the chance to show some support for Go Listen Boise, who had teamed up with Heather Roberts's Ten Gallon Cat to make this show part of the former's Local Music Spree.

I counted about nineteen people when we got to the Crux.  The crowd looked mostly on the younger side (early 20's or under, I'd guess).  When a.k.a. Belle soundchecked, the crowd numbered about forty and looked mostly middle-aged.  By the way, the woman in the black-and-white striped blouse is Jenn Siegel, my lady-friend.  It's hard to tell from this distance, but she's pretty gorgeous.  She'll probably appear fairly regularly in future blog posts.

Woodwind opened the show.  Back when my friend Keesha Renna ran the Crux's open mic, I saw a young gentleman perform.  He played one song that blew me away--lovely folk melody; clean, boyish tenor; understated, pained lyrics.  Made me think a little of Nick Drake or maybe Ronnie Lane.  I'd wondered in the months that followed what that guy was up to.  When local newcomer Samwise Carlson played his finale, it hit me: "Holy crap, it's him!"  That last song's melody sounded just as beautiful as I'd remembered, and Carlson's other tunes were almost as pretty.  The stray lyrics that I caught didn't sound too bad either.  Now that I have a name to attach to him, I'll be sure to keep my eye on him in the future.

Calico played next.  I worked the Record Exchange's merch booth when this young group played Alive After Five.  As I recall, they sold about seventy copies of their debut EP, which NEVER happens with a local act.  It's worth noting too that Calico's song "In Our Town" supplied the name for Boise 150's special CD compilation.

Now, do these achievements mean that Calico will be the next big thing for Boise music?  I wouldn't say that.  I would say, however, that they definitely have potential.  Their rhythms could use some livening up, and they come across as a little too solemn and serious right now (so people will take them seriously?).  Still, their melodies are unfailingly pretty, they've got some impressive poise and lead singer Ruby Somoza has the warmth, smarts, sass and straight-up charisma of a natural front-person.

Sun Blood Stories' Brett Hawkins played a surprise 20-minute set of his solo material after Calico.  Hard to tell if he's affected or not, Jenn said of his bone-simple guitar picking, saccharine folk-country tunes, reedy vocals and oddball, sardonic lyrics.  She also noticed that his shirt was buttoned wrong.  Like a drunken uncle playing songs for you, she added later (she meant that in the best possible way).  That trumps everything I had, so I'll just move along.  (And you wonder why I'm crazy about this woman.)

a.k.a. Belle kicked off their set with the premiere of their music video for "Mess You Up," a track from their new album (hopefully coming in February 2014).  It's a cute, funny bit of stop-motion animation created by Catherine Merrick herself.  I grinned when I caught a reference to an old Sam Merrick song (or was it band?), "Don't Pass Up the Chance to See Neil Young."

In the interests of transparency, I should probably mention that Catherine Merrick and I are co-workers now; she works at the Edge (the Record Exchange's coffee shop), and I work at the Record Exchange's main register.  I should mention as well that Catherine tipped me off that the Record Exchange was hiring and recommended me to the owners (I didn't ask her to do that; she just heard that they were looking for a music-savvy individual and thought of me).  Readers will make of that what they will, of course, but I've been praising Catherine since well before we started working together.  And unless she starts to suck, which seems highly unlikely, I don't see any reason to stop doing so.

Anyway, I don't know if everybody drank some coffee beforehand or what, but the band seemed more amped up than usual.  Chris Galli's bass-playing seemed especially fluid and nimble this night (I spotted him nursing some kind of warm beverage earlier).  Whatever the reason, they went a long way towards helping Jenn understand why I love this band so much.  Louis McFarland was as strong and swinging as ever (got off a badass solo on the Link Wray-esque instrumental "Here Come the Deathtraps").  Sam Merrick ripped it up on guitar and joked it up between songs, the latter of which got a great eye-roll and an Oh-God-he's-an-idiot-but-I-love-him look from his wife at one point.  As for Catherine Merrick, I've called her the best singer in Idaho before, right?  Yes?  Okay, I'll just move along, then...

You can find info on these acts on Facebook and elsewhere online.

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.

Hey V Kay, Exit Prose and Oso Negro @ Neurolux (12/28/12)

This show interested me because it gave me the chance to check out two local hip-hop acts I hadn't really written about before, Oso Negro and Exit Prose.  As an added bonus, it gave me the chance to see local electronica act Hey V Kay again and to show a little support for the good folks at Go Listen Boise, who had set this deal up.

I got down to Neurolux at about a quarter past eight and counted a little over thirty people.  That number would more than double as the night wore on.  That's what you'd hope for with a Friday night show.  It was kinda refreshing to plenty of unfamiliar faces too (in my experience, you don't often see Tapout T-shirts at Neurolux).

Oso Negro performed first.  His smooth, catchy beats, his warm timbre, his quick, assured flow and his smart rhymes got the night off to a fine start.  A couple raps about living on a budget and what'll happen when all the bees die off were particularly impressive.  This set also featured a one-song team-up with Exit Prose and Dave Boutdy from Dedicated Servers.

Exit Prose performed two sets this night, one after Oso Negro and another after Hey V Kay.  This gave him ample time to show off his effectively spare beats, forceful flow, sharp lyrics and sung chorus hooks.  The audience really started to warm up during his first set: about a dozen people moved up to the dance floor to groove and wave their hands in the air.  He may have stumbled at a couple of points (decided to skip one track, had to start over a couple of times), but overall, Exit Prose did more than enough to prove that he's been keeping it real since his Kamphire Collective days.

Hey V Kay's somber electronic tunes sounded just as sexy as they did when she opened for Friends back in October.  Karen Havey's booming, intricate beats, elegant synth and guitar lines (performed both by her and her brother Owen) and low, sultry murmur elicited plenty of dancing and loud applause from the crowd.  This set featured an astute recasting of Beyonce's "Sweet Dreams," but that song sounded outclassed next to Havey's originals.  Beguiling stuff.

(Sidenote--Somebody out there oughtta set up a bill with Hey V Kay and Edmond Dantes.  Mmm, that'd be something...)

You can find info on these acts and Go Listen Boise on Facebook and elsewhere online.

The Lindsey O'Brien Band, New Transit and a.k.a. Belle @ Neurolux (9/28/12)

This show interested me because it marked a promising new development for Go Listen Boise.  They'd set this up in collaboration with SpokesBUZZ, a Fort Collins, CO organization that does for that town pretty much what GLB does for this one (i.e. promotes and encourages live music and events).  For details on how this show came about, you can check out this Facebook event page.  Hopefully, this relationship will lead to some more cool shows around these parts in the near future.

I counted a little over twenty people when a friend and I got down to Neurolux.  It didn't get much larger than that, but happily, everyone there seemed to get into the music.

a.k.a. Belle kicked off the show.  If this group ever puts out a live album, they oughtta leave space for some on-stage banter--it's always a hoot hearing them crack jokes and talk smack about each other (the bandmates with the same last name do most of the latter).  Not that they didn't cut it music-wise: Chris Galli's jazzy basswork made "Flyin' Song" glide, Sam Merrick's guitar injected some ragged glory into "At Least I'm Stupid" and their new drummer swung and swaggered throughout.  Meanwhile, Catherine Merrick and Kayleigh Jack sounded as warm, thoughtful and lovely as ever, and special guest Thomas Paul pitched in with some tasteful banjo and mandolin.

After a.k.a. Belle came local band New Transit.  Maybe seeing the Old 97's last month conditioned my ears, or maybe anticipation of their ambassadorial Fort Collins gig made them step up their game.  Whatever the reason, these guys sounded a lot more rockin' than I remembered from the Nicki Bluhm concert.  In fact, between Dave Manion's sharp solos, Thomas Paul's terse fills and their tough, grounding rhythm section, they kinda reminded me of the Stones at a couple points.  Sean Hatton's light, sensitive croon rested atop the train and picked off its targets as they zipped by.

The Lindsey O'Brien Band played last and made quite the first impression.  This Fort Collins group rocked hard enough to earn a Led Zeppelin cover and laid down a groove funky enough to earn an Aretha Franklin cover.  Lindsey O'Brien's high, strong voice, P-Mann's scorching guitar, Dave Clapsaddle and Chris Nicholas's soulful horns and Craig Fowler and Pete Knudson's steady-rolling bass and drums got a good chunk of the small crowd dancing.  Hopefully, those folks'll bring a few friends the next time this group rolls through.

You can find info on these groups, Go Listen Boise and SpokesBUZZ on Facebook and elsewhere online.

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears @ Alive After Five; The Prisms, Edmond Dantes and The Dirty Moogs @ Neurolux (7/11/12)

Normally, I try not to schedule seeing more than one show on the same day.  I just figure that it's good for my mental, physical and financial health.  This past Wednesday, however, presented two opportunities that I couldn't pass up.  Last year's Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears show at Neurolux was one of my favorites of 2011, so I got excited when I saw that they'd play Alive After Five.  Also, the good people at Go Listen Boise (who, coincidentally, organize the local openers for Alive After Five) had arranged an intriguing all-electronica show at Neurolux later this evening.

I was glad to see that so many folks braved the 100-degree weather and made it down to Grove Plaza.  I gotta admit, though, that I don't understand how people can drink beer when it's so friggin' hot outside.  It's not like they need help getting dehydrated.  Oh well, to each his/her own...

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears took the stage around 6 PM.  Their performance would've generated plenty of sweat without the sun's help--one part Stax soul/funk, one part juke joint blues, one part punk rock.  The Honeybears' soulful horns and swaggering rhythm section got the people close to the stage moving.  Black Joe Lewis delivered the songs in a raspy shout and slashed out tornado-like riffs and blistering solos on his guitar (whose dirty yet sharp tone doesn't sound quite like any other guitar that I've heard; it's like a rusty stiletto stabbing your ear).  I'm very glad that I got to see these guys again; they might be the closest thing in spirit to Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers going nowadays.

Unfortunately, I needed to run a last-minute errand and couldn't stay for the entire set.  I'd have liked to have heard them play "Livin' In the Jungle"  and seen if they'd had the balls to play "Mustang Ranch" (about their misadventures in the titular Nevada brothel) or "Bitch, I Love You" with all those kids around.  At least I got to hear their funked-up cover of Robert Johnson's "Stop Breaking Down" again.

I took care of my errand and got down to Neurolux before the show started.  The crowd started out decent and grew as the night progressed.  That was good to see: Go Listen Boise has been supporting the local music scene for years, and the folks there deserve all the support that they can get.

First up at Neurolux was local trio The Prisms.  As you might expect from a group that features Spondee's Clint Vickery, their lightly funky synth pop had more hooks than Cabela's.  The multicolored light and laser show added yet another level of fun to the sharp drumming, super-catchy synth and guitar lines and endearingly mild vocals.  It took a little while to get the people dancing (with the exception of a lissome, short-haired brunette and her friend), but a playful cover of "Always Something There To Remind Me" did the trick.

Next up was duo Edmond Dantes, who may or may not have changed their name to Barbarian Princess after this show.  Whatever they choose to call themselves, they're well worth checking out.  Their spare, elegant, seductive synth-funk/soul would've sounded right at home on the soundtrack to Drive or Miami Vice.  The strong, yearning tenor of the lead singer made me think of Pickwick's Galen Disston.  They remade Elvis Presley's "Devil In Disguise" and Kim Carnes's "Bette Davis Eyes" in their own image, and their originals didn't sound any worse for it.

All-synth trio The Dirty Moogs closed out the night with a wonderfully goofy, highly danceable set.  Between their leader's mock-German accent and songs with titles like "Tight Tight Pants," "Julie's An Android" and "Nintendo" (which really did sound like it could've come from an old 8-bit Mega Man game), they sounded like Kraftwerk or Gary Numan on laughing gas.  Not coincidentally, they included a Kraftwerk cover in their set and went out on that supreme anthem of alienation, Gary Numan's "Cars."

You can find info for all of these groups except Edmond Dantes/Barbarian Princess on Facebook and elsewhere online.  For info on upcoming Alive After Five shows and more, go to www.golistenboise.org.  Give 'em a couple bucks too, if you can spare it.