This was the show this week where I wanted to see all the bands on the bill. The Standard deserves some attention. They got a great response as the opening band and supply a very full guitar driven sound that is akin to TSOOL, Cooper Temple, etc.
Apples in Stereo are not one of my favorite bands but they focused on their new material which is almost a garage "concept" album. It was only when pulling out old material--like some bad country Cat Stevens "Peace train" type of shit that they really went wrong. But that was an occasional miscue. Overall, they fucking rocked with the new material and their drummer is the closest thing to Mo Tucker that I have ever seen. She absolutely keeps this band together.
Clinic was the perfect ending to 14 bands in 4 days. I have heard that their shows are hit or miss. They were definitely on tonight. Sold out room--and Clinic played it for what it was worth and added a 3 song encore. Most impressive, not replicating the songs as they are on the album (CD). Clinic seems to be a true love-them-or-hate-them band. Very hard for me to convince friends to go to this show. If you are in the hate them category because they tend to drone on--you will not experience that in concert. They take the stage to kick ass—the whole doctor/mask nonsense should really go. Clinic doesn't need a gimmick--they had the room dancing (and I mean dancing like I haven't seen at a concert with "our" bands) so far this year. What I wished for in their last two recordings, I found tonight. The first Clinic release which is a compilation of their first 3 EPs is so powerful. The last two releases are very laid back in comparison--but the way they delivered the material from those albums was with energy and urgency. Clinic--an awesome party band (I never would have thought).
--Dem
