Home Video, David Grubbs, Boom Bip & Mice Parade @ Southpaw 05/19/05

Home Video kicked things off at Southpaw around 9, when they started there were probably about 30 people, but by the end of the set it got closer to a hundred and not a fucker in the place wasnt watching, now i have been following Home Video for a while now, and in the beginning when comparisons were made the obvious one was to Radiohead, but since their first show it has just evolved more and more from that every time, if you want to make a comparison to Radiohead now you have to say that their sound is what Radiohead would be after Ok Computer, but before Kid A the gang flew to funkytown and got a drum machine, and then when to somewhere deep in the African jungle and got some crazy tribal stuff goin on, and they mixed it all and made an album, they didnt do that, but Home Video did, i really am impressed more and more every time i see them, i cant say enough about them, their set is tight (theyve added a cure cover recently), the first ep is all drum machines, but since then they decided the live show would be better w/a live drummer (of course), but the best part is the drums become such a driving presence and almost become the center-piece of the show, and he plays along to the drum machine beats already there, but he rocks so hard he makes that drum machine unsure of its rhythm. The singer belts out his word with such a passion, sometimes its scary, and the keybs player is totally on point with those tones, its a total package, i will definitely let you know when they play next, oh and if you own a label, sign these guys, their full length is already done, they just need some one to put it out and if you do this you will be crowned king of awesome town, they even put the drummer on half the tracks of the full length. Heres some pics:





I missed most of David Grubbs set, but what i saw was good, he was solo acoustic singer/song writer, but it wasnt as self indulgent as most of those people, and the guitar work was very intricate finger plucking. The reason i missed him is because i was outside with home videos drummer talking to Simone from Blonde Redhead, who came to the show just for home video and then rode off, hows that for an endorsement.

Boom Bip was pleasant as well, they played these really heavy space rock soundscapes. Always building to a crescendo, and normally i have problems with those types of songs because they build up and fizzle out, but not these guys, they build up slowly and then they explode. No pics my camera died.

Mice Parade i am on the fence about, some songs were good and other times i just thought it was to jammy. Every one talks about the fine line between a band that improvises and a jam band, and its a fine line, this 7-piece collective (2 guitars, keybs, 2 multi-instrumentalists, drummer, and xylophone) is definitely on the jam band side, but its tolerable at times, like when the lead guitarist joined on a second drum set and it sounded really tight, but other times like when he beat on a suitcase, it just wasnt happening. I applaud what they are doing, its just not exactly my thing. It brings to mind the arcade fire live show. Where as thats trying to do a similar thing, but it rocks so hard and its so good it just works, but some where along the line mice parade just misses the mark, in my opinion at least.