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EPIC NIGHT
I’m glad I stayed at the Biltmore all night.
TECHROMANCER: I feel like anything I say about this band is kind of damning with faint praise, but there’s industry blood in the veins and they’re going places. You like MSTRKRFT, Handsome Furs, Crystal Castles? Might as well get on board before these guys get signed to Last Gang and everybody knows about them. Calli has amazing stage presence and the songs are undeniably catchy.
Anything I have to say about Techromancer is going to be super biased, but you hit the nail on the head with the catchiness. Watching them play, even with a small audience, was really great. Hopefully they can cut their album ASAP and start getting some buzz. All it takes to get “Spoiler Alert” stuck in my head is to hear the sample they use and it’s in there all day.
KIDNAPPING: I remember seeing these guys open for Women a while back, and they had a lot of great parts, but it wasn’t super cohesive. Apparently, though, playing without a bassist or drummer is exactly what they needed. They were AMAZING. Before, Sean was still kind of singing the way he did in Taxes, but he’s really figured out how to sing for Kidnapping now. The mood was troubled and spaced-out in a great way, made me think of This Heat and Faust and the Silver Apples or, if you prefer, Liars, Blonde Redhead, and Women. A really original sound, though. Sean said they might not play any more shows because their keyboardist has the stage fright, but I hope that’s not the case. I hope they record, anyway. They ruled.
These guys were a really pleasant surprise. They had kind of a weird noise-goth sort of vibe going on. I kept thinking “this is so weird” followed immediately by a sense of being highly-pleased. Hopefully they don’t disappear. I think they might’ve been kidding about the disappearance - their keyboard player is a guy I used to work with and he’s super outgoing. I can’t imagine him having stage fright. Anyway, super cool.
HAUNTED BEARD: Duuuuude. Duuuuuuuude. They played with kleenex moustaches rammed in their noses. Amazing visuals. Benevolent Michael Jackson faces, live Ninja Turtles theatre. Space synthesizers. Heavy stuff.
I don’t even know what to say about Haunted Beard. They had kind of a Black Dice thing going on, which I loved. Aside from the super-wasted girl that kept jumping up on stage to do interpretive dance, their set was pretty seriously awesome. My love of noise-with-dance-beats continues unabated. The set went on maybe one song too long but was otherwise stellar.
MT-40: HOOOOOLY SHIT. They were good before, but the thing they are doing now is nuts. I used to say they were like Blank Dogs with two keyboards and no guitar, but Reginald started RAPPING sometimes and it’s like Suicide and Grandmaster Flash. They closed with a cover of Grauzone’s “Eisbar”. And they KILLED IT. SO GOOD.
“Isabella Rosselini” blew my fucking mind. Seriously. So good. Like watching the nerdiest kids you know in high school just bust out some incredible jams. I can’t say I cared much for their wastoids-in-floral fan club but some of my favourite shots of the night came from MT-40. I plan to jump at the chance to see them again.
LONDON DRUGS: I love these guys, but I was pretty drunk at this point.
