Weekly Wrap-Up

Last week, I ended with a few suggestions for live music events to check out that week, ranging from '80s rock to whiny acoustic drivel to a top-level Roustabout! show. Here's my recap of how they turned out:

Wednesday, 10/11 - Eddie Money at the Cell Block

Though Eddie Money isn't exactly looking as pretty as he did in the '80s, I'd be hard pressed to deny the show had great energy. Maybe it was the excitement of hearing hits like "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Take Me Home Tonight (Be My Baby)" sung live. Maybe it was the (surprisingly) packed house, filled with frat boys and 40-something women reliving their glory days as high school rockers. Maybe it was the .25 cent beer. Whatever the cause, it was a full house and everyone was entertained. My only complaint is that, though the Cell Block packed the house in a way the Crowbar seemed unable to do, they did it on the strength of a retro act. Ill be more impressed when they promote upcoming artists and current music with the same efficiency.

Thursday, 10/12 - SOMA Acoustic Show at West Halls Study Lounge

It pains me to say this, as I have uniformly enjoyed all events by Students Organizing the Multiple Arts, but Thursday's acoustic show was a low point for me.

Local band the Minor White opened, seeming a little dull. Their songwriting is tight enough that I imagined an acoustic set would be natural, but sound problems, a short set, and a different arrangement meant they seemed a bit lacking. Raise Roof Beams were a highlight, though, integrating country and folk influences well, including one guy who whipped out both the mandolin and the banjo.

It was all downhill from there though. Solo act Koji on the Roof was the worst kind of earnest, strumming-under-the-willow-tree-in-the-quad-to-get-girls kind of singer (and, yes, most girls I asked were swooning a bit.) He left out the whole "talent" part though, and worse yet, he butchered a Wilco song, then had the nerve to invoke Otis Redding through a woefully inappropriate cover of "(Sittin' on) the Dock of the Bay," stripping it of it's emotional resonance in an arrangement too wimpy for even John Mayer to consider. I couldn't re-enter the room after that but I think the band name of Boys Like Girls tells any potential listener whether or not they'll like that band.

Friday, 10/13 - Roustabout! at the Tall Shiva Hookah Lounge

Now here was the week's highlight. The Minor White more than compensated for the previous night in one of my favorite gigs by them, emphasizing elements like the keyboards and sounding a lot looser and more rocking. And Olivia Mancini and the Housemates, in from D.C., were astounding. Using female vocals and brass, they swayed from great pop to total noise (I've never seen anyone play their trumpet into their guitar pick-ups before) very smoothly. I will be first in line next time they visit.