I started an update last night, about the concert I attended Wednesday night, but then I had to call my friend Milo whom I haven't spoken to in a couple months. So I should have a longer update later today - I'll probably just edit it into this post. EDIT: And so I am...


Wednesday night I went to Chop Suey for my August concert: Beehive, Saba, Library Science, and The Epochs. John joined me for this show, as he'd never seen Library Science and wanted to check them out. It's hard to fit four bands into one evening, especially when the club doors don't open until 9pm, and sure enough the first three bands all had shorter than usual sets, playing less than a half-hour each.

The Epochs had a pretty good, tight sound; John was reminded of the Smashing Pumpkins, apparently because of the singer's style, but I didn't really hear that. They did remind me of some other bands but I couldn't think of any examples; I can say that there was something of a jam/groove feel to their songs, but they were definitely structured, not just aimless noodling. They had a free promo EP available, and I did like them enough to pick it up.

Library Science played next, and although they seemed to have a few technical problems, they sounded good overall. They've been reworking some of their older songs, adding new interest to them by changing the instrument sounds/effects or improvising some parts more, and they also played a new song that was a nice solid addition to their material. One song was marred not by them, but by the club's soundboard guy accidentally turning on the between-set music in the middle; because Library Science do have some chaotic noisy parts in their songs, it took a little while to realize something was playing that shouldn't have been there.

Saba played an uneven set this time, alternating from slow ballads to upbeat dance music - that can work, but in this case changing styles each song just seemed jarring, as though the band was trying to play for two different audiences at once. They also didn't seem quite together, the songs just weren't tight. I was disappointed, as I remembered them being better the first time, and I do like their CD a lot; but everyone has off nights.

Although I wanted to check out Beehive, whom I've never heard, it was getting late for a weeknight and we decided not to stay for them.
It's always nice to discover a new band by serendipity. Tony Sacco's band Library Science had a gig tonight at Chop Suey*, a club just a couple blocks down the street from my apartment. Now, the aikido training I'm doing with John is on Monday and Wednesday nights, so I wouldn't have been able to make it to the show, but John had to work late because of deadlines and canceled the class. I actually ended up working late too but still got home with enough time to make and eat dinner and get to Chop Suey before Library Science went on.

Library Science did a good set, then I helped Tony stow his gear in the car (I'm practically his unofficial roadie now), and then we went back in for the next band. I was glad Tony said he wanted to hear them, because I always like to hear new bands but I didn't much feel like staying by myself if he were leaving right away. The band's name, Saba, didn't mean anything to me or Tony, we didn't know anything about them - well, Tony might've known something about them from setting up earlier. Anyhow, Saba had a female singer with some kind of sequencer/mixer/electronic box, a female backup singer, a guy on keyboards, some guitar, and some vocals (more rapping than singing), a guy on bass, and a guy on laptop. The sound was very funky and dancy, it was really enjoyable.

They played a bunch of songs, and then much to my amazement, I recognized the beginning of one. Now that I've bought the CD, I can tell you it's called "Motel 6", and it's received a fair amount of airplay on KEXP, which is how I knew it. I liked that song but had never actually written down the band name, so it was quite a pleasant surprise. I had already been thinking about buying the CD but that sealed it for me. So I'm quite glad I went to the show and had the chance to discover a cool new band.

Saba don't seem to have their own Website yet, but you can find a tiny bit of information and a link to buy the CD on the site of their label, Blatant Records.

(*Aside: I believe Chop Suey only opened up a few years ago, shortly before I moved here, so I'm surprised they managed to get "www.chopsuey.com" as their URL, you'd think someone would've already grabbed that.)

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