Sea Ray 8PM, Buffalo Billiards
sea ray make droney, pretty cello-infused songs on par with interpol. they had a huge white fabric stretched across the back wall of the rustic looking buffalo billiards. they projected films which looked as if they were inspired by stan brakhage. the music’s crescendos waxed and waned with the images on the screen, the ending was particularly chaotic and inspiring.
after that, dan and i headed off to the Merge records showcase, where they were giving out neat little pins to commemorate their upcoming 15th anniversary.
Radar Brothers 9PM, the Parrish
the parrish is a new venue in town and its really pretty. its got that big roomy feeling that the upstage had, which is why i enjoyed watching bands here. out of all the bands i watched, radar brother was the biggest disappointment. its not that i have a thing against quiet and slow bands but RB did nothing to differentiate between their songs. they were all structured the same and lacked dynamic. this made it difficult to stand through their set. i got antsy.
Portastatic 10PM
now, here’s a band that can make quiet songs but they all sound different [which is funny because mac macaughan's other band, superchunk, has a publishing company called "all the songs sound the same"]. mac was accompanied by erron olive on bass and had no drummer, but it still made for an exciting set to watch. old and new songs were played and they brought out a bass clarinet player for a song.
Rosebuds 11PM
i love love love this band. they combine 60s mod sounds with 80’s new wave keyboards and 90’s indie rock. they’re a little bit like an updated butterglory, if you need a more specific reference point. theyre energetic and fun and their set did not disappoint. i bet they won over a few new fans, as well.
it was at this point that i felt so worn out that i wound up going home. i wanted to see philly popsters cordalene rock out, but i called it a night. i heard they played well and ethan hawke was in attendance.
