Great show overall. All three bands looked like they had a good time and the crowd was responsive. I was surprised by how empty it was when I got there at 8:30, but it slowly filled up.
Long-view
I got to the club a little late and only got to see about 3 songs. I liked what I heard. Full, lush sound with good vocals. The last song, Further, was especially strong. I was somewhat reminded of the Goo Goo Dolls, but that may have just been because the lead guy looked like Johnny Reznick.
Dogs Die in Hot Cars
DDIHC was the only group I had heard before, having bought Please Describe Yourself a few weeks ago. The album is just 100% full frontal 80s pop, Howard Jones style. Actually, I think half of their album IS Howard Jones. It wasn??t exactly what I was expecting, but I can??t deny that several of the tunes have been in the rotation recently. Even if some of the lyrics sound like they were written by Mrs. Miller??s 7th grade creative writing class.
Live, the band played well together and they were crisp with the songs. Nice vocal arrangements and harmonies. For a pop group, I was glad to see that they didn??t just play the songs ??as is? from the record. Well, at least with more embellishment than, say, Interpol. The first thing I noticed about the live set was how strong the lead vocal was. He??s got a throaty Dexy??s Midnight Runners sound on the album, but he really opened it up on stage for a much better effect. It sounded like his voice was starting to wear out for a while there, I think a sign of trying really hard to put on a good show. I agree with the Talking Heads reference.
Phoenix
It took me a while to get into this group. I hadn??t heard their music before, and I thought the mix was off for the first few songs. Too much kick drum and not enough vocal. The songs didn??t seem particularly distinctive or catchy, but they had a way of pulling you in. I??d start off thinking ??eh?, and then halfway through the song I??d be groovin to it. They were a very patient band, comfortable with what they were doing and having a good time with it. They definitely won me over.
Very fun night. I could see DDIHC was digging Phoenix??s set from the VIP balcony, so that was cool. I also enjoyed the guy in the back yelling, ??It??s ok to dance, you??re not going to see any of these people again!? It was, like someone said on here once, as if the natural state of man is to be flailing around and the only thing keeping us from doing so is a crippling fear that one of the 9:30 clubbers is going to bust into your Monday morning staff meeting and pass around photos of you rocking out.
