Just got back to Baltimore from the show.. And it was outstanding. All bands were good true and through. The Super Furries rawked! They played a superb set.
Night opener, Home, was a solid band. I'm not familiar with their catalogue, so can't talk specifics, but I strongly liked a couple of songs in their set. Can't say much about them. They made me think of Wilco, which isn't bad in my book. I wouldn't describe them as lo-fi, as someone posted above. Apparently, they've been around for a long while, as the guitarist made a reference of them playing at the 'old' 9:30 Club.
The Furries just put a great show, an excellent headlining set. I first saw the Furries at the new Ottobar here in Baltimore over a year ago. They were touring in support of Rings Around The World at the time. The venue was very small, but they played their asses off nonetheless. Tonight at the 9:30, they performed even better and to a larger crowd. This is a band that deserves more exposure here in the States, and I hope their fan base grows. With sets like the one they performed tonight, their name will grow. New exciting highlight tracks from their latest record Phantom Power, such as the all-out fun 'Golden Retriever' and the hard-rocking 'Out Of Control', were mixed in with the best tracks from 'Rings Around The World'. It was a pleasure hearing 'Juxtapose With You', 'Receptacle For The Respectable', and 'Run, Christian, Run'. 'Receptable..' was particularly amazing. They closed the set with their no-nonsense rocker, 'The Man Don't Give A Fuck'. They played most of that song, walked offstage as one of the members tweaked it, then returned onstage donning furry suits (as seen on the 'Golden Retriever' video). Just a great set--I'm taken by the Furries range in sound. Many of their songs metamorphose into surprisingly different tunes halfway through.. and they work. The Furries can go from rock band, to soul act, to techno-dance act, all in the course of one song and make it all stick together and work.
Grandaddy also played well... though I must confess I'm not familiar with their catalogue and wasn't particularly feeling their vibe. I'm only familiar with two songs of theirs. I've read Grandaddy fittingly described as 'Neil Young meets Aphex Twin' and that's a very fitting description and not a bad assestment of their sound. I do have a problem with them. The problem is their sound and mood is about the same in every song, and the repetitivenes is quite noticeable. My friend commented to me that he found them repetitive after a few songs. I matter-of-factly agreed. I do give them kudos for their choice of rear projection material: the video for the second song in their set, 'Yeah Is What We Had', was a very on-the-mark and saddening video about the beginning and end of a relationship. The video moves backwards, starting with the bitter end of the relationship and ending with the happy chance encounter of the couple while hailing a taxi. My friend and me both liked the song and video. A sad yet truthful video--we've all been there in that situation; me specially very recently. On a not-sad note, I liked the footage they showed of that one cat smacking the s hit out of that dog; that was one kickass cat. Is Grandaddy obsessed with cats or what? Although I found Grandaddy to be repetitive, I still found them partly enjoyable, and stuck around enough to hear my favorite song (out of the two songs I was familiar with..hehe), 'The Crystal Lake', which was a hit about three years ago.
So in general, a great show tonight at the 9:30. I'm so there.. when the Super Furry Animals again roll back through town. :cool:
