I wish I had an official number for how many times I have gone to a show
wondering if (insert band) was going to be able to pull off whatever it was
that had inspired me to check out the material live. I had this feeling last
night as I drove to Houston to see the Advantage and a couple of other bands
I had never heard of. For those that don't know, the Advantage are an
awesome band from Sacramento that has dedicated their lives to covering as
many 8-bit Nintendo songs as possible. I have listened to the band's latest
effort, Elf Titled, a million times and it is one of my favorite discs this
year. Most of the songs are not very long though and I was a bit concerned
how the band would go from song to song and I also wondered how well
everything would translate live. Well, if a band has dedicated itself to
covering Nintendo songs then I have now found that you should just trust in
them to blow your mind. The Advantage totally and completely rocked Walter's
last night and the Satin Hooks and Motion Turns It On were rather good as
well. Instead of stopping and going all of the time the band just strung
together song after song into one giant Nintendo montage that had the whole
crowd jumping and pounding their fists in the air. Speaking of the crowd, it
was a nice size for a Wednesday night and everyone there was very much into
the Advantage. I never thought I would attend a show where kids yelled out
"Play Mario!" or "Finally, Contra Live!" I have to say that the best thing
about the band live is their drummer who carried the band on his shoulders
throughout the performance. The three guitarists seem so intent on perfectly
recreating these covers that it leaves the door open for someone to steal
the show, and the drummer does just that. On the other hand it could just be
my soft spot for any passion filled and slightly insane looking musicians
who do their best to physically destroy their drum kit. In any case I was
very impressed with the Advantage and I highly recommend checking them out
live if you get a chance. As for the Satin Hooks and Motion Turns It On,
both are from Houston and also come highly recommended. Check below for some
songs (no live tracks, sorry) and more commentary.
:The Advantage - Contra (Alien's Lair And Boss Music):
For me I thought that this song came across the best live. It moved with a
fantastic ferocity that was undeniable to ignore. I think this is really
when the dorks in attendance started to mosh, I mean the band played this so
well they had kids moshing to Nintendo songs! If that does not make you a
little bit inquisitive as to how the band handles these covers then you
probably need to seek help. This song is from Elf Titled, which you need,
and you can get some more info on the band at their Myspace.
:Satin Hooks - Soda Song: The Sation Hooks were
a really nice surprise Wednesday night. It is not too surprising now that I
have seen that they won the 2006 Houston Press award for best Experiemental/Avant
Garde artist. Sometimes it is hard to get into a band when you don't know
any of the songs but I had no problem getting into what the Satin Hooks were
doing. Give this song a listen and see for yourself how good these guys are
at making their style of avant garde indie pop songs. Keep an eye out for
this band here and everywhere. And as always, be their friend on Myspace.
I would have a song from Motion Turns It On but their Myspace has pretty
slim pickings in comparison too all of the really cool instrumental jamming
that they did last night. They are apparently putting together an album so I
will wait until then to post up some stuff with more in-depth commentary.
-
John Laird -
Unless
otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any
related pages, including the blog's archives, is licensed by
John Laird under a
Creative Commons License.
