Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, Magic Man and All The Friends - Tuesday night at The Space

I love Thao with The Get Down Stay Down, so I was really psyched for this show on 4/20 at The Space in Hamden. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Thao rocked it with her raw vocals and interesting ways of playing the guitar (she used a toothbrush for a bit), and the Get Down Stay Down owned it with their skills and use of crazy different instruments. The whole band just had fun with their set, and it was contagious. Before they started "When We Swam," Thao said Adam had a special dance that was kind of provocative. It wasn't that provocative, but the song kind of is, which I love. Then they went into "Swimming Pools," which was cool because people knew these songs, and this part of the show was more like a singalong. During "Beat Health Life and Fire" and a few other songs, they gave us some cool beats to clap to - not just your usual 4-4, and it was a lot of fun. At some points, Thao turned around and started drumming, and Adam started hitting the cymbals with these tambourine-like pieces. Willis on the drums looked like he was using different instruments - or maybe just drinking from a camel back water bottle. They just have a really unique, upbeat, indie rock sound, and it makes me want to be more interesting. i.e.) I wish I thought of playing the guitar with a toothbrush!


Before them was Magic Man (pictured above). I'd been listening to Magic Man a bit before this show because their album is available for free download here: http://magicman.bandcamp.com/. It's a really good album - you should download it - but Magic Man is actually much better live! I think it was because they got to improvise more, and the lead singer got to show off more vocals. He also had a lot of stage presence - very Ezra Koenig mixed with Brandon Flowers - and he looked like Zac Efron mixed with Tim Urban. (I'm totally cool with how creepy I sound.) You could tell that all the musicians in this Boston-based band are talented. You can hear it on the album, but the sounds of the drums, guitar and bass really stick out from the background MacBook-composed music when it's live. The repeating back beats are ridiculously catchy, and that combined with their stage presence and musical talent made for a great set. Magic Man started with "Daughter," which is my favorite song off the album, and they kept the good vibes going through the set. They also had a pretty heated performance of their song "Monster." You could tell that a lot of people were hearing them for the first time, and I think they made a good first impression. They also gave a shout-out to Manic Mark for booking them, which was really nice because he does deserve credit for all these great Manic Productions shows.


All The Friends (pictured above) went on first. They were really chill and a pretty sweet start to the night. About half the audience was sitting on the floor, which is why my picture is kind of dark and far away - I didn't want to step over anyone, and it was a pretty relaxing, but fun set. They had a clarinet and trumpet on top of the usual rock band instruments, so it was like if my marching band friends and I got together and made a prog rock band. (I stole that line from Garrett.) They gave out sampler CDs with two of their songs, which are also available on their Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/atfband. We got to talk to some of them after their set as we picked up a CD, and they were really cool - they were such friends!

On a side note, I also got a chicken pesto sandwich - my first sandwich from The Space - and it was delicious. I got some pesto on my dress, but my Tide-To-Go pen took the stain right out! Yep. Pretty good night.

The Thermals at The Space

We had to go to a show on Record Store Day. Didn't realize this until halfway through The Thermals set, but it was really the perfect end to a pretty awesome day. I'd never seen The Thermals before, but I listened to some of their stuff and really liked their sound, so I decided to check them out on Saturday night at The Space in Hamden. Good decision. They rocked it! Being the headliner, people were pretty excited as they started to play, but they really got the crowd going a few songs in as more people started dancing, singing along and just getting into it. The Thermals have this raw, indie, garage punk sound that just makes you want to rock out. Kind of expectedly, they ended with "Now We Can See," but it was an awesome ending - complete with a clap-and-sing-along.


Past Lives (pictured above) went on right before The Thermals, and I thought they were pretty cool. They also rocked out (you could tell because they got super sweaty), and I think that enthusiasm was contagious. The Coathangers - an all-girl shouting punk band - went on first, before Past Lives. They reminded me of Bikini Kill, and while it's not my favorite kind of music, I couldn't help but like them. You could just tell that they always have fun, and they were especially adorable as they were watching The Thermals and cheering their tour mates on.

Matinee shows are awesome!

Just a few updates all rolled into one blog post.

Went to the Mates of State and M.T. Bearington matinee show at The Space on Saturday afternoon, and it was tons of fun. (I was really close and could have gotten a photo, but my phone died because I forgot to charge it the night before!) Anyway, because it was a home show for Mates of State husband-and-wife duo Jason Hammel and Kori Gardner, they were able to bring their kids, and lots of friends and family made it out. We got there around 3 and noticed there were a lot more kids than usual. We also couldn't help but gush over an adorable kid in a Mates of State shirt enjoying his root beer. Then we realized the home show/matinee atmosphere was perfect for friends and family, both young and old, to come. Aha! The show was awesome. M.T. Bearington rocked it. I bought one of their CDs at a Toad's Place show, but I only thought of this on Saturday: They kind of sound like Modest Mouse, except not as wacky. I like it. Then the Mates of State definitely had fun, playing lots of familiar stuff and some new songs that as danceable as ever. For a new dance song, they even brought up their daughter Maggie on stage and some of her classmates, including the one who enjoyed his root beer. Another bonus? It wasn't even 7 by the time we left! It felt much later because we had already done so much that day and went to a concert, but we still had so much time left in the day. Sweet deal.

And I never reviewed the Girl Talk show. We didn't end up in the general admission pit, but the balcony wasn't that bad. Sure, we were dancing in our seats and really far away, but there were some good parts. I never heard of Black Violin before, but they were the perfect openers for Girl Talk. They played violins over some hip hop and pop songs, and it was pretty cool. They also showed off their classical violin skills. Then Girl Talk came out with a lot of variations of his old mixes and some new stuff. Interesting point: Girl Talk is limited by the music that's out already. He doesn't call himself a DJ, but he "composes" music by mashing up songs. I saw him over a year ago, and I have two of his albums on my iPod, but those are kind of older. Seeing him live last week was pretty cool because he could play some Lady Gaga songs and mix Miley Cyrus' "Party in the USA" with Snoop Dogg. We weren't dancing in the pit, but it ended up being for the better. We didn't get hot or faint, and we could get drinks without trudging through a thick crowd. (A lot of people snuck in/pushed through to the downstairs after the opener.)

Next stop: Bela Fleck - The Africa Project at Jorgensen this Thursday.

Mates of State at The Space Feb. 20

(Photo taken by me All Points West 2008.)
Manic Productions confirmed yesterday that Mates of State are playing an early show with M.T. Bearington at The Space in Hamden Saturday, Feb. 20 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $14 and go on sale Friday at noon at www.manicproductions.org. I'm definitely there, and this might be the third, fourth or fifth time I'll be seeing both bands. This is almost as good as the $3 Cafe Nine show this summer that was announced on Twitter the day of.