I've
appreciated the Boxing Lesson for awhile now, but it wasn't
until last night that I realized how good they are. I
thought their set had a wild amount of energy (especially
from their drummer, who might be crazy), and I was impressed
with how epic their sound came off in a live environment.
I only wish that they would have been allowed to play a
longer set to a much bigger crowd (at that point there was
maybe 20 people in attendance). I look forward to
seeing them again.
To be honest, I
didn't get what this local act was going for. Every
moment of their forever-long set of awkward
spectacle-oriented pretentiousness entailed trance-like
repeato vocals and a guitarist (who chose to play the whole
set in the crowd and not on the stage) that wailed around
and spent most of his time plugging his guitar back into the
amp.
Anyone know if their shows are always like this? I'd
like to think that maybe they just had a really weird night
of bad ideas.
Considering
that I've waited years to see 65daysofstatic and the fact
that they were picked to open up for the Cure, my
expectations were somewhere beyond high. Now that I
look back on it, though, I think this was a little unfair.
After all, the guys had already played a show at Austin
Music Hall before they even took the stage last night.
Still, they certainly did nothing to disappoint.
One of the things that I love most about the UK act is that
they cover the full range of instrumental bands. Some
of their songs are of the slow building sort with an
emphasis on beautiful keyboard work and nicely placed
electronic details, and others jump right in and punish your
ears with thunderous drums and crunching guitars.
Whichever the case, it all winds up being a showcase of
precision on the band's part, which just based on that alone
makes for a show that's endlessly entertaining. I
spent a lot of time just watching and being impressed with
how something that seemed so wild at times could immediately
slow down and hit everything right at the exact moment
necessary with no problems. It was fantastic.
If you're already set to see the Cure then you're certainly
in for a treat. However, if that isn't a part of your
future plans then I highly recommend keeping an eye out for
65daysofstatic and one of their after-show performances in a
town near you.
:65daysofstatic
- When We Were Younger And Better:
BTW, sorry for
the lack of quality pictures. The band was in control
of the lights and they pretty much turned them down to the
point where they might as well have been off. I can
shoot in low-light (I refuse to blind musicians with flash,
so I don't use it), but when they're moving around so much
it makes it difficult to get something other than blurred
figures.
- John Laird -
Unless
otherwise expressly stated, all text in this blog and any
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John Laird under a
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