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.
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