Band of Horses @ Black Cat, 9.13.06

Around 8:00 last night I was wondering how I was going to get up for this show. The new album from The Mars Volta was bouncing around the circuitry of my iPod and making my head spin. I can't say enough about it, and once Frat got his greedy claws on it we had to have a one hour heart to heart about Omar, newly found TMV vocal harmonies, and life. I mentioned how fucked I felt cranking this album just hours before I would catch the Horses. It presented a conflict of interest. He laughed and said, "must be nice." Things don't really get that hot in South Carolina and the fact that I was bitching about catching a show to Frat just added insult to injury. Whatever. The kid caught Boris this past weekend. Shit isn't that bad.

Arriving at the scene of the crime, Top and I continued to adjust our rules for parking in DC. Sometimes our rule is to have half of the car ahead of the NO PARKING sign, last night we only required the front wheel well. After blowing Top's mind with TMV's "Tetragrammaton" we listened to "The Funeral" to get our minds right. Some frat clowns passing by made some lame comment. They either loved the parking job or the choice of music or both. Top and I laughed mercilessly at them when they asked me in line if the show was sold out. I told them it said SOLD OUT on the website as early as yesterday morning. Cue blank look, and the comment "website?" They mentioned they "just wanted to drink anyway." Go get 'em kids. Tonight beers, tomorrow an introduction to the information superhighway.

Naturally we didn't miss these d-bags because we had Little Miss MySpace playing human pinball in the front row. Sloppy, annoying, and one of those concertgoers that thinks they are the show. Me and my gargantuan frame are doing their best to stay out of people's sightlines. Top, the lady and I were earplugged and next to the speakers, but this girl continued to smash into me. After I filled her eye sockets with some rapid fire flashbulbs she moved center stage and continued to irritate people that were trying to enjoy the show.

During a break, she yells "I'm on MySpace" about 4 times. Ben Bridwell, frontman for the Horses entertains one of the shouts and looks stage right at the oxygen thief. I yell out, "tell her to SHUT HER SUCK!" Now, I usually refrain from yelling shit out, but I was a tad wasted and fed the fuck up. Her publicist, lackeys, and/or pinhead friends simply watched her the whole show. At no point did they intervene or help her out. Looking back this made plenty of sense because they probably put the roofies in her drinks to begin with. Talking to Top this morning I asked if I was out of line with my approach with this moron. He said that I wouldn't have been out of line if I kicked her in the teeth and that, despite my own intoxication, showed impressive restraint.

Somewhere there exists a club where everyone is there for the music. But, this club is not in the Nation's Capital.

I can't help you in terms of a setlist. But I will say I was blown away by Ben Bridwell's vocals. There is something ethereal and magical about the way he hovers over the guitars. It's one thing to get it right in the studio (technology could make me sound like Fiona Apple), it's another to bring it to life live. From the elegiac guitar shakedown of "The Funeral" (second song in the set) to the vital bounce of "Weed Party," Ben and the boys nailed everything, all the time. What they lack in terms of volume (Everything All The Time clocks in under 40 minutes, and I am pretty sure they hit every track on it) they make up for with covers (David Allen Coe and one other) and sheer quality. "Great Salt Lake," "Monsters," and "St. Augustine" will never be the same for me. I was awestruck for the majority of the show, and didn't even think to take notes. How could I?

In a strange twist of fate, Everything All The Time is now on heavy rotation, sidelining TMV for the moment. It's been spinning here for about 2+ hours and it means even more to me now. The live performance, while raw, is relentless and dynamic. I did not think I could hold "The Funeral" in higher esteem, but the force with which the tempo changes arrived left me astonished. Bridwell would exaggerate the pause before the crash, take a step back, kick his pedal and let the layers unravel. Their sound is full and welcoming, and the talent is in abundance. At one point Bridwell snapped a string on his laptop slide guitar, got up from his chair and completely made up for it with a fierce vocal (was it "Wicked Gil"?) assault. He motioned to the lead guitarist to increase the violence from his end of the sonic spectrum and it all coalesced into a seamless vision of energy and beautiful heartache. The pinnacle of the live performance resided in the keyboardist's turns on guitar. Three guitars arced and crashed bringing as much intensity as the bottomless vocals they accompanied. Powerful and stark at once, their songs are sublime and deeply affecting to the point that you cannot turn away. I could sing the praises endlessly but it would sound nothing like Bridwell:

If I am lost it's only for a little while...

***Remaining Dates***
2006-09-14 Cats Cradle Carrboro NC
2006-09-15 Tremont Music Hall Charlotte NC
2006-09-16 Village Tavern Mt. Pleasant SC
2006-09-17 Variety Playhouse Atlanta GA
2006-09-18 Headliners Columbia SC
2006-09-19 Exit/In Nashville TN
2006-09-20 Bottletree Birmingham AL
2006-09-21 Proud Larrys Oxford MS
2006-09-23 Conservatory, The Oklahoma City OK
2006-09-24 Granada Theater Lawrence KS
2006-09-26 Fox Theater Boulder CO
2006-09-28 Club Sound Salt Lake City UT
2006-09-30 Epicentre San Diego CA
2006-10-02 Avalon, The Los Angeles CA
2006-10-04 Filmore, The San Francisco CA
2006-10-06 W.O.W. Hall Eugene OR
2006-10-29 Vegoose Festival Las Vegas NV
2006-11-02 Crystal Ballroom Portland OR
2006-11-04 Showbox Seattle WA
2006-11-05 Showbox Seattle WA

MP3: Band of Horses - "Wicked Gil"

[Boston Globe Article | Official Site | MySpace | SubPop Records]