Enjoyed a mellow musical evening last night at Brownies for the first night of the K Records extravaganza. Kat and I, perched at the end of the bar, had an excellent view of both the performers and the indie rock geek-girls and boys. The crowd was so twee, I actually witnessed a grown man order a Shirley Temple from the bar -- I kid you not. Please, reserve a modicum of dignity for yourself next time and just call it a ginger ale and grenadine. Even referring to it as a Charlie McCarthy would have been marginally less embarrassing. Good grief.
Anyway, the music was lovely, starting with Calvin Johnson's country-style laments, a-capella performance pieces and a couple of gentler songs, interspersed with witty between-song banter about everything from the "store" in set up in the band changing area to why we should still give props to Bob Mould even though his new record is supposedly awful ("he wrote a couple of good singles").
Mirah was next, just her and her electric guitar and a boatload of charm that kept the crowd in quiet admiration (for the the most part) as her hushed, sweet vocals filled the room. Wolf Colonel joined her for the last number, when the rocking-out commenced at last -- woo!
The final performers were Tender Trap, featuring Amelia and Rob, formerly of Heavenly and Marine Research. Backed by a drum machine and with a bassist who goes by the moniker "DJ Downfall," the music was inevitably a bit more dancy and harder-edged that the pure pop of their previous bands. But still pop at the core, with Amelia still doing that cute little hip-swaying dance I remember from the first Heavenly gig I attended in 1990.
I waved a little "goodbye" to Brownies as we exited, since the club as we know it is closing in August, so that may have been my last show there.
Posted by nstop at June 25, 2002 01:25 PM