Last Thursday I went to see Beehive at Neumos, with Furniture Girls opening and Emilia headlining. Neumos is a large club for these bands, none of which yet has a large following, so not only was the balcony closed but also half the main space was closed off by red velvet curtains. Although that gave the room a nice intimate feel, the sound system is designed to fill the space, so the sound quality wasn't the best for the show.

As they did the first time I saw them, Furniture Girls started their set with an instrumental jam, this time playing along with the beats being spun by the night's DJ Dezignated Pete. They brought the jam to a close, paused... and started jamming again, as their laptop failed to start playing the first song. Once they got it fixed, they played a few songs... and then the laptop died again. This time, the guitarist kicked off a blues jam and the lead singer improvised lyrics about how sad it was that the laptop had died. Frankly, I found that to be the most entertaining part of the set, a clever and humorous way to deal with technical difficulties. I'm not sure why they don't grab me more; perhaps in time as they develop, they'll hold my interest.

Beehive played a rocking set as always. However, the evening's sound issues affected their set the most. Their first couple songs sounded noisier and rougher than usual, and Alethea's high vocals were barely audible near the stage, seeming to come out of just one tiny speaker in the upper left. When I moved around the room, I found that the best balance was back by the room-dividing curtains. Still, these were minor issues, and overall it sounded okay. As at their Nectar show last month, they played around with the songs, adding extended instrumental intros and codas just for the fun of it. I was pleased that they did the slow "acoustic" introduction to "Outta Here One Day", I'd been wanting to hear that variation again. Also like their Nectar show, they finished with a repeat of "Better Than Lies", urging everyone forward to dance. I'm not keen on the practice of reprising songs in that manner, but presumably their intent is to grow the audience by pushing that song as the catchy single, and it is a good choice for that, so I can't fault them.

Last time I saw Emilia, I felt that her performance was too calculated, too intent on projecting a rockstar image. At this show, she seemed relaxed and natural again, focused on her music and letting her stage presence flow from that. Emilia's voice was strong, and her backing musicians were excellent. I enjoyed a couple of the upbeat songs, notably "Hypnotized", with its breakbeat-jazz fusion sound. However, most of her music, slow to mid-tempo soulful pop, still simply failed to appeal to me. Emilia's very talented and worth checking out for yourself, but she's not for me.

Edit to add photo links. I have four Furniture Girls photos starting here; five Beehive photos starting here; and six Emilia photos starting here.



Next Sunday, March 2, I plan to be at Chop Suey to see Balkan Beat Box, on my sister Andrea's recommendation. I still haven't decided about the other shows in March - Jens Lekman at Neumos on the 25th, Jose Gonzalez at the Triple Door on the 29th and 30th, or X at the Showbox on the 30th (all ages) and 31st (21+) - they're all shows that I'd rather decide on as a spontaneous thing, but that I know I'll have to get tickets in advance if I actually want to attend. I guess I still have another week or two at least before the X shows sell out...
Last night I went to High Dive to see Emilia and Miss Solar System, along with Missing Players. I had overlooked this show in the listings earlier in the month, and I was pleased when I learned of it, as it gave me a chance to re-assess both Emilia and Miss Solar System.

As happens fairly regularly, the band I knew nothing about turned out to be the highlight of the evening. Missing Players are a trio on bass/lead vocals, drums, and keyboard/flute/harmonica/vocals. Additionally, they had a guitarist/sax player throughout their set, and two more musicians on baritone sax and trumpet for most of the set (these additional musicians are all members of The Panda Conspiracy). As you might guess from the lineup, their music was eclectic. Early in the set, just as I was thinking they sounded like early '90s grunge rock, I realized they were playing a cover of "Rooster" by Alice in Chains. Later, they were at their bluesiest when covering "French Fries with Pepper" by Morphine. Most of their music though was original, ranging between those styles and touching on art/prog-rock as well, including a long instrumental featuring the flute and the horn section. I enjoyed the variety of the sound as well as the obvious talent of the musicians, and I'll be interested to see how they develop.

Just last month when I was looking for a show to attend in February, I learned about vocalist Emilia, and her backing band including Michael Queyrouze on guitar, Kent Halvorsen on keyboard, and KJ Sawka on drums and electronics. Sawka's involvement was how I learned of that show, as I'm a fan of his earlier project Siamese and his current solo work. At the time I thought the group sounded pretty good, but they didn't really grab me. This time, Emilia opened her set with a pair of backup dancers for the first song, which struck me as a mere gimmick rather than a serious artistic decision. There's no denying the musical ability of her backup musicians, nor her own fine voice, and most of the audience seemed very enthusiastic, with a lot of dancing in the crowd. However, as her set continued, I did not find myself warming up to her performance, and eventually I simply grew bored. I talked with an audience member near the end of her set, and we agreed that Emilia's act seemed too calculated, substituting the pretense of being a rockstar for true passion in the music. That's not to say that Emilia doesn't actually care about her music, but her performance felt a bit hollow to me. I won't be deliberately avoiding her shows in the future, but I won't make a point of attending, either.

Like Emilia, I had seen Miss Solar System once before, in January. That show had only instrumentalists Daniel H (synths and live guitar) and Rob Anonymous (programming, samples, and synths), as their vocalist Miranda Rose was ill. My reaction at the time was that they lacked something to make them stand out, and the lacking element was probably their missing vocalist. This show proved me at least partly correct. Rose's soaring, soulful vocals did provide a nice contrast to the electronic beats, beeps, and swirls, complementing their sound well. At the same time, although I did enjoy their music, I still felt less enthusiastic than I'd expected. Unlike with Emilia, I can't attribute it to a perceived flaw on the band's part; they simply didn't find their way deep inside me and pull out the urge to dance. I ended the evening pleased to have seen them; although I'm not particularly eager to do so again, they're still a selling point for potential future shows, again unlike Emilia.



Next month I have something of a dilemma. Annuals are back in town on the 21st, opening for Blonde Redhead at The Showbox. I really enjoyed the Annuals when I saw them last month, and Blonde Redhead is one of those bands I neither know nor remember as well as I think I should. However, Beehive are playing a show the same night in the Lower Level of the Capitol Hill Arts Center, and I definitely want to continue supporting them by attending their shows. Hmm, on their website they're promising a long set with lots of new material. Decisions, decisions...
While looking for a show to attend in February, I found out that KJ Sawka plays drums for a singer called Emilia, and that she would be appearing at Neumos on the last Tuesday of February (the 27th). I hadn't yet learned about the Airborne Toxic Event show, so I planned on this show with Emilia to be my February show, and John agreed to join me for this one (despite the Sing-Sing debacle). Emilia opened the show, followed by Pilot Speed, and the show was headlined by Annuals.

Besides Sawka on drums and samples, Emilia's backing band included a guitarist and a keyboardist. Emilia herself had a fine voice that reminded me of Beth Orton. Her music was slow to mid-tempo pop mixed with downtempo electronica and a grooviness between jazz and blue-eyed soul. Although I liked Emilia's sound, I found to my surprise that it wasn't really catching me. Maybe I was expecting something closer to KJ Sawka's solo breakbeat sound or even like his previous project Siamese. In any case, Emilia was still a good start to the evening, and as I knew nothing of the other two bands, I felt satisfied that I'd seen at least one worthwhile band. As it turned out, the rest of the show proved to be even better.

Pilot Speed are a quartet of guys from Toronto on vocals and keyboard, guitar, bass, and drums. As I mentioned, I knew nothing of this band and had no particular expectations, but my eyes widened with surprise during the very first song: these guys were good, really good. They played a rousing set of songs featuring ringing guitar and soaring vocals, somewhere between the dark moodiness of Interpol and the brighter pop of the Delays. (At the time, the only band I could think of in comparison was Boston band The Sheila Divine; it's a good comparison if you happen to know that band.) I haven't heard a band like this in concert in quite some time - not at least since seeing Aberdeen City in December 2005, and probably Interpol some time in 2003 before that - so I enjoyed the set all the more. I made sure to pick up their current CD, Into The West, after the show, and I'll be looking to hear more from them.

Annuals are a sextet from North Carolina, including Adam Baker (lead vocals), Kenny Florence (guitar), Mike Robinson (bass), Zack Oden (guitar), Anna Spence (keyboards), and Nick Radford (drums). However, it's misleading to list them so, because most of the members played at least one other instrument during the set. In particular, guitarist Zack played a second drum kit for half the songs, and Adam and Kenny each had a drum of his own to pound on occasionally; some songs featured all of them drumming at once, along with Nick. Anna and Mike also played a bit of percussion. In fact, the effect was that of having a band twice their actual size; I joked about them being a quarter-strength Polyphonic Spree, but that was actually pretty apt. They also had some of the quirkiness of the Flaming Lips, and the sweetness of Tahiti 80. Their skill as musicians became apparent when they had four people drumming: the keyboards, bass, and vocals weren't drowned out during those times, as the overall sound wasn't louder, it was just more textured. As with Pilot Speed, I was quite impressed with how good Annuals were, and I eagerly bought their current CD Be He Me too. Annuals are a young band with lots of talent and promise, and I expect them to get a lot of attention as the year goes on.

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