A Promising Weekend

Some interesting shows this past weekend. We'll go in reverse order this time, to bring up the highlight first.

Saturday, 12/2 - Psychedelic/Zaireeka Roustabout! at Tall Shiva Hookah Lounge

Headlining a Roustabout! show with a listening party for an album instead of a band wouldn't normally fly, but Zaireeka is an exception. The four-disc Flaming Lips album is meant to be played on four sets of speakers, with the idea that the tracks will never start at the same time and always synchronize differently. And you get a different experience depending on your relation to the speakers, so every listen will be different.

So, after a warm-up from some psychedelic bands (quick props to Goldenball for a great set,) the show was on. It took a few false starts to get the rhythm of four people working CD players down, but it was always funny to hear "Track one... track two... track four..." followed by a chorus of sighs and another go.

Describing the album is difficult and kind of beside the point. But it was a unique show, and showed the kind of creativity lacking in the arts scene in general. And people seemed to have a good time, though it would have been nice to see a few more people walk around and take advantage of the multiple sound sources that were set up.

Friday, 12/1 - SOMA Pop Art/Music Extravaganza at Dragon Chaser's Emporium

It's been a weak year for SOMA shows, both in terms of quality and failure to match the original aesthetic set last year. Friday's show, though not up to last year's standards, was still a step in the right direction. The club remembered that the "MA" stands for "Multiple Arts," and made an attempt to integrate art with the music. Unfortunately, the art was limited to a small selection and a few pieces of paper for the audience to draw on with Crayons, hidden in the corner.

The music faired a bit better. This Place is Haunted delivered a solid set, and out-of-towners Endless Mike and the Beagle Club stole the show. The band, which included tenish members, featured simple, pounding indie-pop with about five guys just bouncing around, banging tambourines and shouting along. It was loose, sloppy, fun, and unlike anything else I saw this year, which used to be something you could rely on from a SOMA show. The next band scared me off by butchering a Neutral Milk Hotel song and then launching into pop-punk, but it's still a step back in the right direction.