Mini-Review: KOBO

A few weeks ago my buddy Jon of Lackluster (shameless name-drop) asked me if I wanted to go see Historians play a free show at Oldfields on High.  I said, "sure" as I don't mind Historians and hey, it's free, ya know?

So we get there and of course it is right smack dab in the middle of OSU's Senior Crawl.  Like my friend Bridgit would say, it was like I was in the middle of an episode of Jersey Shore that continued for hours.  Are all college girls whores, or just the ones that go out in public?  Ah, but I digress...

We walk in and notice everyone working is wearing Evolved t-shirts.  The place also seemed... different, but I couldn't put my finger on it.  Outside smoking a cigarette, I talked to the door-guy and he said the bar was recently bought out and is being renamed, "KOBO."  I asked him why the name change, as Oldfield's has been around forever and people recognize it.  He said he didn't know but I could ask the owner and pointed out a 14-year old kid moving boxes of beer around.

That 14-year old kid is actually Jacob Wooten (who is 26 years old).  He's a member of the band, The Pinkertone's and bought Oldfield's with the owner of Evolved.

To be honest, I was dismayed by the name change and unsure of the direction the place was going to go.  However, I've changed my mind and think it's pretty brilliant.

Kobo means an artist's work space in Japanese.  The idea behind KOBO is that Wooten wanted to make a bar that caters to bands, not the other way around.  He's taken down all the beer signs and put up old flyers and posters (many, if not all, seemingly from the old High Five) of local bands.  The shit-beer has been taken off the taps and replaced with imports and micro-brews.  Sound dampening has been installed behind the stage, and in general, the place looks more cleaned up.

He even took out the cable television!  Which is brilliant because even I have found myself being drawn into a T.V. when I should be paying attention to the band on stage.

I think the idea is great, and within 4 years no one will even care that Oldfield's on High is gone.  I wish KOBO and Wooten the best, and I hope to make it back often.   check out http://www.kobolive.com for more info on upcoming shows.


In other news, that same night I went skinny-dipping for the first time in my life, met some awesome dudes in a band called, Spruce Campbells (seriously, these guys were sweet), and somehow emailed myself something about a band called, "Barker's Beauties"  which I think may be linked to Spruce Campbells?  I have no idea.  If anyone can help me out with Barker's Beauties, I would appreciate it.

Album Review: Thick Sticks & Harder Stones by Evan Harris and the Driftwood Motion

Thick Sticks & Harder Stones is a 6 song EP by Evan Harris and the Driftwood Motion.  You probably already got most of that information from the title of this post.  Jeremy Ebert, the bands guitarist, gave me this CD with a little note tucked inside;

"'thick sticks' is the product of 3 friends over a 2 week recording period and a 1 week    mixing/celebrating the absurdity of how quickly it all came together....period"

The band, in its current incarnation, consists of Evan Harris, Jeremy Ebert, and Jessica Rabbit. This album also features Gerard Shay on the song Cardinals and Swans.  

Evan: Vocals, Gibson Acoustic, upright bass, ukelele, piano, and organ

Jeremy: Dean Resonator

Jessica: Vocals, Martin Acoustic

Gerard: Mandolin

The Driftwood Motion is one of those bands that are equally great to listen to either on a hot Summer day while sitting on a porch sipping lemonade, or a dark smoke-filled room at night while sipping whiskey and water.

They take elements of bluegrass, folk and  roots rock to create alt-country masterpieces that will make anyone slap their thighs, stomp their feet, and smile at life.  And that isn't to say that the music is necessarily happy; it's just that damn good.

Jeremy's guitar is superb, Evan's smorgasborg of instruments and lyrics is amazing, and Jessica's guitar and especially her voice is simply beautiful; she sings lead on only one song, Ah Geeze (What a Mess!), and I really wish I could hear more of her.  Simply put, I want more Jessica Rabbit!

The other five songs are sung by Evan, whose voice is strong and confident, but aggravatingly familiar; you spend more time trying to figure out who he sounds like than listening to what he's singing about (after listening to the EP about 20 times, I came up with a combination of Mike Ness, John Cougar, and Tom Waits - which would make a terribly ugly baby if the three of them ever somehow managed to mate - but I digress). 

The stand out tracks are The Devil Song, Cardinals & Swans, Ah Geeze (What a Mess!), and Lighter than Dark Days.  The second track, At Least We Still Have What's Left of Our Health, is good, but doesn't strike me as much as the previously mentioned songs and track 5, A Birds Year, I can't seem to get into very much.  The overall feel of the song is terribly depressing (on purpose), but the guitar is what grinds my gears on this one.  The opening acoustic which continues throughout the song just sounds... I hate to say this.... cheesy.  The electric that pops in occasionally provides an almost industrial tone, which is unsettling.  I think that is the best way to describe this song... unsettling.  That could be good or bad, depending on your mood, really.

Overall, I would recommend this to just about anyone.  I mean, I only had one negative thing to say, so that should mean something, right?  I've also seen these dudes play live (sans Ms. Rabbit) at a club and in a living room and I recommend attending a live show as well.

Concert Review: Metric

Image via Wikipedia

Metric tore the roof off the Newport Music Hall Tuesday night.

There are few times in my memory where I've been to a concert that was so full of people just happy to be there. The audience was mostly young people, teens and early twenties, who knew every word to every song and were happy to sing a long. The band was all smiles and seemed genuinely gleeful at the attention they received. Emily, the lead vocalist/keyboardist profusely thanked the crowd and even thanked CD101 for "playing us so much, even though they saw 'Metric, put out by Metric,' few radio stations would do that." After the last song, which was an acoustic version of Combat Baby sung by Emily with guitar accompaniment by James Shaw, the rest of the band (bassist Josh Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key) came out and bowed before the crowd. They didn't seem to want to leave and the horde of fans chanted their name long after the house lights came on.

Metric live is LOUD. During Help I'm Alive the bass was so intense the hair on my head was shaking, the change in air pressure caused my ears to pop, and my balls jiggled. Being a fan of bass, I didn't mind this at all.

The light show was also incredibly intense. A lot of people find the strobe lighting too distracting and actually a bit blinding; once again, I didn't mind. It was one of the best light shows I've seen for any band at the Newport.

Vocalist Emily Haines is one of the best people to just watch. Dang, that sounds creepy. Anyway, she makes ridiculous and hilarious facial expressions, twitches her legs and shoulders, smiles with unadulterated glee, and dances in a herky-jerky way reminiscent of Elaine from Seinfeld. She would hold her arms out in front of her and stomp in place like the classic Frankenstein monster. In short, she was fun. I haven't smiled so much just watching someone since... well ever, I think.

Jimmy Shaw (can I call you "Jimmy?") looks like a young, well-dressed Bruce Springsteen, but unlike old Bruce, Shaw can shred some guitar licks. I never really knew this until I saw the live show and witnessed three of his solo's. He isn't Eddie Van Halen or Tom Morello, but he ripped it up.

Winstead, as most bassists are, seemed the most enigmatic of the group; staying to one side of the stage, kind of out of the lights. Like I said before, the bass was amazing at this show and he's the one to thank. Because of a bad view (an amazon lesbian with a HUGE bag was in my way), I couldn't tell what kind of style he used to play; pick, slap, combination, whatever. Either way, it worked out great.

The drums were hard-pounding. Scott-Key beat the shit out of those drums. And the best part was he was grinning like a madman for most of the set.

The entire set sounded tight and on; I didn't notice any mistakes or false-starts, or anything.

The crowd really ate it up. The band was all smiles too. They obviously relished the attention, but not in a pretentious or arrogant way; they seemed genuinely surprised and humble at the love they received from the crowd; a refreshing change of pace from bands that seem to just go through the motions.

Here is Twilight Galaxy from the Newport show. Starting around the 6 minute mark, it turns into some headbanging craziness. Not too much of that from the crowd of mostly young well-dressed women, but you'd have been surprised. I wanted more videos of the show because there were many instances of slow and sweet immediately crushed by heavy and pounding. Good contrasts.

The Slide Machine - Sundown

The Slide Machine - Sundown performed live.

I've been jammin' to this song for a couple years now. It goes on most of the mix tapes I make. I would be ecstatic if I got a Slide Machine album