Warehouse shows

[Bags]

TOMORROW -- 05/12 -- WEDNESDAY
 THE WAREHOUSE NEXTDOOR (1017 7th St. NW)
 
 THE QUAILS (10:00)
 THE EVENS (09:00)
 
 doors open at 08:00 -- All Ages -- $5.00
 
 
 THE EVENS
 featuring Ian Mackaye of Fugazi, Minor Threat, etc. and Amy Farina (the Warmers)
 
 THE QUAILS
 
 WHEN GUITARIST JEN Smith screams, "What to do when it's all a bunch of shit?" on the title track of Atmosphere, the second album from the Quails, her question combines the spirit of rally leaders and the spat-out disgust of pissed-off adolescent punks. Her tone manages to convey years of distress and anger over the state of the union, the city, the status quo. Her answer ââ?¬â?? "Make a fist? Make a fist!" ââ?¬â?? is a slogan you've surely heard before, but probably not the way it comes out of Smith's mouth. Driven by Seth Lorinczi's fuzzed-out bass, Smith's hyper one-person call-and-response, and moments of heated, half-shouted harmonies between the two, "Atmosphere" is rowdy, cacophonous, tuneful, and strangely full of joy for a song about the disenfranchised and the voiceless. This combination is emblematic of the Quails' style of making art, which embraces social justice as well as shaking your ass. In the world of the Quails ââ?¬â?? Smith, Lorinczi, and drummer Julianna Bright ââ?¬â?? it's sexy and fun to care about what's happening to your community, and you might as well wear matching costumes to the show.
 
 Recently back from a six-week tour with Sleater-Kinney, the three Quails, who share the mic and collaborate on songwriting, have been playing together for more than three years. Some of their best shows have taken place in squats and beleaguered art spaces and black holes-in-the-wall where the line between audience and band tends to dissolve in a puddle of sweat. On Atmosphere (the follow-up to 2001's We Are the Quails, both on Erase Errata guitarist Sara Jaffe's Inconvenient) they roam around the city clocking the power struggles down on Market Street and over at City Hall, castigating moneyed "digitons" for taking up too much space without even realizing it, and congratulating friends on choosing to live their own freaky lives. The album is a soundtrack to unlicensed parties in the street and a tribute to the community of artist friends they credit with giving them the energy to continue creating. Talking about the zines they bring to shows and the conversations they've been having with people on the road, Smith says, "We want to tell you about the people in our lives who make us feel like, 'I want to take my pants off and act like a freak!' And then our music is toward the end of making everybody else feel that way." (Lynn Rapoport) SF BAY GUARDIAN

[snailhook]

the quails are good, but are one of those bands that i want to like more than i do. i like their politics and their attitude, but the music isn't as good as others in that subgenre of post-punk/disco (like erase errata). i saw them open for the aislers set at the black cat though, and i think a smaller space like the warehouse is more conducive to their show.
 
 the subarachnoid space show is now filled out with nitroseed (ex-spirit caravan, mem. of earthride) and cash slave clique. the three bands all play a different style of instrumental rock, ranging from mathy doom metal to abstract space rock. it should be a diverse night of psychedelia.

[Bombay Chutney]

Originally posted by Macktastic Bag O' Flash:
  THE QUAILS (10:00)
 THE EVENS (09:00)
 

Has anyone seen the Evens yet?  Weren't they at Coachella?  I'm looking forward to this one.

[redsock]

Sweet, this is perfect opportunity for me to harrass Ian. And a good audience to beat over the head with BigYawn flyers. I'll be there!

[redsock]

anyone else planning on coming? Or are you all going to the Stills show...?

[Bags]

Going to the Stills....and I would offer to give out flyers there, but I may not stay 'til the bitter end.  Can I give out flyers between bands?
 
 Also, I can flyer the Sloan show if you've got no one doing it...That should be a key Bigger Lovers audience.

[jkeisenh]

Originally posted by Skeeter:
  Has anyone seen the Evens yet?  Weren't they at Coachella?  I'm looking forward to this one.

Yup, they sure were at Coachella.  Pretty good, nothing at all like Fugazi (!), melodic, singer-songwriter-y at times... I liked ok but not what I expected.
 
 The Quails I saw opening for SK and thought they were good and fun but nothing new by any stretch of the imagination...

[walkman]

Originally posted by snailhook:
 
 the subarachnoid space show is now filled out with nitroseed (ex-spirit caravan, mem. of earthride) and cash slave clique. the three bands all play a different style of instrumental rock, ranging from mathy doom metal to abstract space rock. it should be a diverse night of psychedelia.

I think I'll give the Quails/Evens a miss, but Subarachnoid etc. is sounding like a really good show.

[snailhook]

it IS going to be a really good show...with tripped-out video projections to boot. in fact, i'd say one of the best shows of the month, easily.
 
 *ok, enough advertising*

[jkeisenh]

Can anyone help me with some info?  I can't get to tonight's show till 9pm-ish and am a little worried about getting in.  If a comrade of mine gets there, is there any way for him to pick up a "ticket" for me?  
 
 (Should I even be worried about The Evens selling out?)

[Bags]

Originally posted by chimbly sweep:
  Should I even be worried about The Evens selling out?)

Yup, you should be worried about a sellout.  
 Snailhook?

[snailhook]

well, with any small venue in DC, it's hard to say if something will sell out or not. it is a wednesday night, and not many people are aware of the evens yet, and the quails don't exactly have a huge fanbase here either. deerhoof sold out the warehouse last year, but dead meadow didn't come close last month on a saturday night. there's no way to predict crowd size.
 
 you can't buy tickets before the show, and it's first-come, first-serve. you'll just have to hope for the best.
 
 honestly, though, i wouldn't worry about this one. i don't see it being sold out.

[Bags]

So snailhook, are you involved with the Warehouse, or are you a local promoter?  
 
 FYI, I LOVE the emails that planaria sends out -- having descriptions of the bands is key, and has gotten me to a few of the shows.

[Bags]

TOMORROW â?¢ 05/13 â?¢ THURSDAY
 THE WAREHOUSE NEXTDOOR (1017 7th St. NW)
 
 TONE (10:15)
 TULSA DRONE (09:30)
 
 doors open at 08:30 â?¢ All Ages â?¢ Valid ID to Drink if you
 are 21+
 
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
     TONE
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 Last year finds Tone releasing their fourth CD, Ambient  Metals (Dischord Records/Brookland Music) with a greater  exploration of melody than previously exhibited. Produced by J.  Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines, Jets to Brazil,  Dismemberment Plan), the CD achieves a density and sonic ferocity  long sought after. Ambient Metals is an aural assault of six  (plus a hidden seventh track) uncompromising instrumentals  that are both taut and aggressive yet always precise, with  great focus on the rhythmic structures. Frequently tracks  on Ambient Metals begin quietly, as if almost trance-like.  Yet by songs end, Toneâ??s skilled approach climaxes with  rhythmic intensity and thunderous dynamics.
 
 Tone was formed in Washington, D.C., in 1991, with the goal  of creating dynamic instrumental music using a layered,  multiple electric guitar format. Operating within a rock  context, the result was a sound that gladly accepted the  unambiguous tonality of popular music yet still found room for  meaningful dissonance â?? austere, dramatic, and loud. With an  unmistakable lineage (Savage Republic, Nice Strong Arm,  Glenn Branca, Rhys Chatham, Section 25, Crispy Ambulance), Tone  set about its earliest performances with the determination  and belief that there was still room for intelligent  instrumental music.
 
 Tone has a history of an ever-evolving roster of players. A  complete listing of everyone who has played in Tone would  constitute an honor roll of D.C.'s alternative music  community. (At times, the band has included former, current, or  future members of Government Issue, Edsel, Pitchblende,  Velocity Girl, Thud, Teen Idles, Unrest, Wharton Tiers Ensemble,  Strange Boutique, Caligari, and Smart Went Crazy.) Tone's  lineup now includes two drummers, in addition to bass and  four guitar players: Gregg Hudson, Andy Myers, Dennis Kane,  Norm Veenstra, Geordie Grindle, Doug Wandell, Jim Williamson, and Steve Willett.
 
 http://www.tone-dc.com/
 
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
     TULSA DRONE
 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
 "The name "Tulsa Drone" tempts one to speculate on the  sound: static, subtle, expansive atmospherics, perhaps a touch  of the "cinematic" -- a knee-jerk term you'd swear is  mandatory in descriptions of post-rock music. The band Tulsa  Drone, while loosely part of said genre, invites a different  set of adjectives. Their sonic palette is not entirely  unfamiliar: clean, rich, tastefully sparse guitar; fluid, cyclic  bass; agile, nuanced, solid drumming.
 
 However, the Richmond-based instrumental four-piece's sound  avoids the expected vast horizons and instead conjures  sensations of claustrophobia. Oblique but intuitive chord  changes anchor songs without centers, and become repeating chord  cycles whose tension derives not from the urge for the  chords to resolve but from the friction between one chord and  the next. Much like Public Image Ltd.'s "Poptones," Tulsa  Drone's best pieces use constantly modulating harmonic  tension to imply infinity, sequences of chords burrowing downward  into oblivion.
 
 Live, the members of Tulsa Drone displayed remarkable  restraint and skill. Peter Neff's hammered dulcimer -- a large,  resonant, stringed percussion instrument scarcely  encountered in a rock context -- occupied half the stage; but, far  from seeming ostentatious or gimmicky, its timbre melded so  smoothly with that of the guitar as to sound at times like  a single instrument. Guitarist Erik Grotz wrapped slinky,  effects-kissed phrases around bassist Scott Hudgins and  drummer Jim Thomson's fluid churn, itself a far cry from the  stiff literalism of many post-rock rhythm sections.
 
 Tulsa Drone prove what many bands of their ilk forget:  First, that non-personality-driven music can still be dynamic  and still have life; and secondly, that breaking boundaries  of form is not the sole benchmark of innovation. While  their sound and sensibility is far from radical, they find ways  to make their music feel different rather than just sound  different. With so many paths already explored, "shocking"  approaches invite little more than a shrug. Tulsa Drone know  better."
 â?? Clarke Boehling, C-Ville Weekly, May 4-10, 2004

[snailhook]

 So snailhook, are you involved with the Warehouse, or are you a local promoter?  

bags, i am pretty much just a music fanatic slightly dipping his foot into low-key entrepeneurialism and community development. i do limited booking at the warehouse, just bands and musicians i like that get shut out of DC venues. the warehouse has fortunately given me, and other like-minded individuals, the opportunity to book acts that otherwise would go straight to baltimore or philly. i also host shows at my house, which you already know, in addition to working doorstaph at the 9:30. and i have a day job, so i'm usually quite occupied. i suppose you could say i'm a local promoter.
 
   

 FYI, I LOVE the emails that planaria sends out -- having descriptions of the bands is key, and has gotten me to a few of the shows.

i agree whole-heartedly. i think descriptions of bands, especially those that are obscure, are essential to generate interest. people aren't as apt to check out unknown music as they used to be, unless they're predisposed to like it.