Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Smells Like Duke Spirit
Went to a rock concert with the regular gang, and a nice guy from India whose name I couldn't spell even if I could remember it, at the Paramount, which is a former movie palace from the 30s (the only one left in Denver) whose architecture holds only the barest hints of art deco.
Saw two opening bands. Duke Spirit, from England, where I hear they took second in the Leicestershire Battle of the Bands in 2003, and Augustana, an American band, and the most talented bunch of 12 year olds I have ever seen.
The last concert we saw all together was Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, so that one was all lead guitar all the time. Here it was just the opposite. All the bands sported dual rhythm guitars and there was not a single coherent guitar solo all night. Spirit might have tried for a lead guitarist but through sheer incompetence didn't produce one. I hated the Duke. And that's despite the lead chic singer's stiletto heeled black boots. Funny, the last time I was at the Paramount was for Eddy Izzard and he wore the same boots (and looked better in them).
Augustana's songs were simple but heart felt. Lot of pre-teen passion from that band. They announced that they were selling CDs at $5 a pop, but I thought that was too steep, so I didn't get one.
The main attraction was British (Irish?) Snow Patrol. They were surprisingly good. The sound in the Paramount is not the best, the bass nearly overwhelms you while the singers' PA is barely audible. The lead guitarist for Snow Patrol was lead in the way that The Edge is the lead in U2. They both strum along magnificently. But as the set progressed, the songs became more complex and interesting. I had a good time. Someone needs to teach Snow Patrol the proper way to end a song. You ought not just abandon it in the middle. You're cooking along and then you just stop playing is not the proper way, but that's how nearly all Snow Patrol's songs ended, in a very unsatisfying sudden, and unexpected, silence. Perhaps they could listen to Bach or someone like that--the old masters always put a proper end to things.
But it's a small quibble because, until the silence, the songs were far more often good than bad. The book end songs, Close your eyes and Open you eyes (rough estimate of titles) were really good, as was the sonq with harmony and the words "light up" in it. Simple rhythms (most usually a march like cadence) with good hooks and nice melodies and a complex weaving of layer and layer of guitars and keyboard. Really very nice indeed.
The guys in Augustana and Snow Patrol must be cute or something because, again the opposite of a Satriani concert, the girls outnumbered the boys about 2 to 1.
I'd see Snow Patrol again, but if you put a gun to my head and said see Duke Spirit or I shoot, I'd have to think about it.
Saw two opening bands. Duke Spirit, from England, where I hear they took second in the Leicestershire Battle of the Bands in 2003, and Augustana, an American band, and the most talented bunch of 12 year olds I have ever seen.
The last concert we saw all together was Joe Satriani and Eric Johnson, so that one was all lead guitar all the time. Here it was just the opposite. All the bands sported dual rhythm guitars and there was not a single coherent guitar solo all night. Spirit might have tried for a lead guitarist but through sheer incompetence didn't produce one. I hated the Duke. And that's despite the lead chic singer's stiletto heeled black boots. Funny, the last time I was at the Paramount was for Eddy Izzard and he wore the same boots (and looked better in them).
Augustana's songs were simple but heart felt. Lot of pre-teen passion from that band. They announced that they were selling CDs at $5 a pop, but I thought that was too steep, so I didn't get one.
The main attraction was British (Irish?) Snow Patrol. They were surprisingly good. The sound in the Paramount is not the best, the bass nearly overwhelms you while the singers' PA is barely audible. The lead guitarist for Snow Patrol was lead in the way that The Edge is the lead in U2. They both strum along magnificently. But as the set progressed, the songs became more complex and interesting. I had a good time. Someone needs to teach Snow Patrol the proper way to end a song. You ought not just abandon it in the middle. You're cooking along and then you just stop playing is not the proper way, but that's how nearly all Snow Patrol's songs ended, in a very unsatisfying sudden, and unexpected, silence. Perhaps they could listen to Bach or someone like that--the old masters always put a proper end to things.
But it's a small quibble because, until the silence, the songs were far more often good than bad. The book end songs, Close your eyes and Open you eyes (rough estimate of titles) were really good, as was the sonq with harmony and the words "light up" in it. Simple rhythms (most usually a march like cadence) with good hooks and nice melodies and a complex weaving of layer and layer of guitars and keyboard. Really very nice indeed.
The guys in Augustana and Snow Patrol must be cute or something because, again the opposite of a Satriani concert, the girls outnumbered the boys about 2 to 1.
I'd see Snow Patrol again, but if you put a gun to my head and said see Duke Spirit or I shoot, I'd have to think about it.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 8:18 AM 
