I went to my first concert (that is, rock/pop/indie—first not classical) ever yesterday. I had heard of the opening band, The Voom Blooms, on KCRW’s Music Exchange with Nic Harcourt and Steve Lama cq and Gerry kindly indulged my desire to see them (no worries, though—he had fun). The venue, The Water Rats, was suitably hipster and the crowd definitely so. I was standing next to a wall and the drum beats reverbed off of it. My left ear thrummed and rang for a long time after we left.
The Voom Blooms (www.thevoomblooms.com) were enthusiastic. Three guys up front, close to the stage, thought this was the GREATEST MUSIC OF ALL TIME (MAN!)! They were really funny: one guy did a half “raising the roof” and all of them were boppin’ and rockin’ out to the tunes. The Voom Blooms, themselves, were also amusing. The lead singer was very into his craft; the bass player looked like Gonwa would if he had chosen to be a hipster-rocker. The drummer was pretty good. They were all carefully disheveled and decked out. Emily, Kabs, Jaci, Kat: Enjoy the looks. ☺
The music was…well, fun to listen to, but it could have been better (especially in comparison to the following band and even the headliners). It was nothing really special, but they did seem to have the potential—“Politics and Cigarettes” was the best of their selection, but even that needed some polishing. To be frank, I was expecting them to be better, based on what I knew of them. However, the next band, Vega 4, totally made up for it—I cannot recommend them highly enough. As soon as the drummer began the first beats, Gerry leaned over and said something like, “The drummer is really good,” and then the guitar and bass kicked and we looked at each other and shared a though: “They are so much better!” They demonstrated a wider range of competency, playing a better mix of ballads, ‘swinging’ music and harder rock, singing catchy lyrics. Their guitar solos were better, more sophisticated; the drummer was amazing; the singing was infinitely better (and you could actually make out the harmony, which (surprise surprise) adds so much more to a piece). The lead singer was funny, making jokes in between songs and working the crowd. Plus, they were so much hotter than The Voom Blooms. I will demonstrate—this is the lead singer.
…sigh… He really knew how to turn on the charisma, very, very charming on stage. My girls: somehow we have to go see them together. The final band, Switches, drew the largest crowd.
They were slightly younger than Vega 4, but their musicality was about the same level. The music was loud, thumping, simple without being too annoying and repetitive, and fairly catchy. “Lay Down the Law” was good, catchy. Their harmonies was audible and definitely added needed depth to the music. But, their lyrics sucked. I mean, they were really really really terrible. Example (my apologies if this is not exactly worded right, but it should be pretty close): “Last night I got a message from you/You told me something I never knew (repeat twice)/Ooooo.” So, to sum up. The Voom Blooms—2.5 stars, lots of potential, need to work on their musicality and presentation, but worth a listen on MySpace (who, incidentally, sponsored the concert) or on their website; I hope they stick together and improve. Vega 4—5 stars, very good, talented, great music and worth seeing in person. Switches—3.5 stars, a fun evening, but really need to work on their lyrics.
Blogger is being stupid...the pics will be up later.
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