Dude, I Don't Want To Follow That

Jan. 19, 2008

Current mood:breezy

So I went out with a special someone to the State Theater on Saturday night.  We were mainly there to see The Beauvilles.  They were part of a Tampa Bay artist lineup.  Playing (in order) were:

Will Quinlan and the Diviners
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The Beauvilles
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Have Gun, Will Travel
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Geri X.
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The funny thing was the State Theater was packed.  Think about that, four local bands drew what some national acts draw.  That was amazing.
So Will Quinlan  and the Diviners went on first, and were ok.  I know it can be tough to be the first act.  They were kind of Alt-Country.  They were good, but nothing really stuck out in my mind. 

The Beauvilles went on next.  They opened with "Where We Start."  I thought it was an odd song to start off with in that, it's not as face melting as some of their other stuff.  However, it starts off slow, and then builds up.  They immediately went into my favorite song of theirs called "Broad Side Dead."  To me it always sounds like something The Cult would do. 

I've known Shawn, the lead singer/ guitar player for some time, and he was playing like a madman.  In a way I'm kind of jealous.  He was more than a bit sloshed, and he could still play guitar better than me on my best days.  Chris, the other guitar player was rocking great, and never missed a note.  Johnny, the bass player was sounding very smooth with his licks.  There is only one word to describe Craig the drummer, and that is fierce.  A good drummer is hard to find, and he was amazing.

I dug that they played Lips (Fourteens) and Pretty in Pale.  I was disappointed that they didn't play Snow and/or Tropic of Cancer.  However, they only had 30 minutes to play, and stretched it out to 37 minutes.  I'm sure they would have played them if they would have had a full hour to play.

After the show I talked to Shawn, and he said he was disappointed in that, he thought they played really sloppy.  I told him, that they were blood, sweat, and pure rock n' roll, and there was no way I would want to follow them if I was in a band.  They were just too darn good.

After the Beauvilles were Have Gun, Will Travel.  They were another Alt-Country band.  They had a sound kind of like Bob Dylan, some Tom Petty, and Wilco.  One thing I found really neat was that I could understand all the words that lead singer Matthew Burke sung.  That can be a tough thing especially at a live gig.  Sometimes the bass and guitars overpower the vocals.  He had a lot of good lyrics.  If you get a chance check out the song "When We Were Kings" on their myspace page.

Then Geri X. and her band went on.  She was very thankful to the fans who kept yelling out "I love you Geri!"  Check out her song Blackbird on her myspace page.  She opened with it.  I have to give her credit.  She has an extremely strong voice, and perfect pitch.  It's not easy to hit those high notes, but she never missed a one.  Now, her style is kind of what you would describe as coffeehouse songstress.  It's a bit different from everyone else on the bill.  But, everyone knew each other, and were pretty good friends.  

Overall, it was a good show.  It's great to see a bunch of local bands get together, and have a huge audience to play for.  I think it was a good time had by all.