Every now and then the stars align,and you stumble into a show that's too good to be true. In this case, the blessed event was Florida's Surfer Blood, supported by NY's Grand Rapids, in the cozy confines of Muddy Waters in Santa Barbara. Don't even want to guess at capacity, but the coffeehouse on Haley St. was packed to the gills for this sold out show, and Surfer Blood went above and beyond the call of duty, shrugging off a recent equipment heist to deliver the goods. Grand Rapids kicked things off with a thoroughly charming set, making plenty of new friends along the way. Surfer Blood then proceeded to slam their way through a raucous set, enlivened by frontman John Paul Pitts mid-set relocation on and behind the bar. Top flight band in a tiny venue-truly a memorable night.
NO JOY Muddy Waters, Santa Barbara, CA 03 May, 2011
No Joy (from Montreal) made an appearance at the homey Muddy Waters in Santa Barbara, taking the opening slot for the Vivian Girls. They wasted no time, blowing right into what might be their strongest song, the title track of the LP, Ghost Blonde (released last November on Mexican Summer). From there, they proceeded to ratchet up the energy, with no time wasted on small talk, just the exhilerating wall of noise that they conjured up.
Before you knew it, they were unplugging guitars and coiling up cables, while the crowd stood stunned. Their work here was done.
I've been over it in my head a few times since, and rarely have i seen an opening band totally control a crowd with such a concentrated burst. Truly look forward to seeing them in the future.
Sidenote: Curious how many miles the trusty van w/Quebec plates (parked behind the drummer) has logged...
Jessica Lea Mayfield and her band returned to Santa Barbara to rock the tiny Haley St. venue known as Muddy Waters, courtesy of the good folks at Club Mercy. They made the most of the middle of the bill, between 'What Laura Says' and 'The Annuals', forcing me to throw a caveat on my assessment of her record in the previous post concerning best records of '08. Yes, the record is a quiet, moody gem from a forthright young lady, but when it comes to the live situation, she came to rock. The band, featuring her brother David on bass, guitarist Richie Kirkpatrick, and drummer Anne Lillis, hailing mostly from the Akron/Kent area, add depth & balls to the songs, without sacrificing any of the emotion & longing... Footage below is dim, (we're not talking light show here...), but terribly up close & personal, i.e. dig the bro next to me enjoying his beer...Hopefully this captures the spirit of the proceedings.
My 'cliff notes' example would be the very first time I saw Lucinda Williams live, expecting some blues country numbers, and having my doors blown off; she tapped her inner Keith Richards...Miss Mayfield is not quite in the same ballpark w/Lu, but I'm on board for wherever she's headed next...
They kicked off with 'We've Never Lied', with the unforgettable chorus of "I'll talk to whoever i goddamn want to..." perking up the attendant ears, and setting the tone for what followed, including, (above), 'I'm Not Lonely Anymore'.
The place started packing in good, and, (above), 'Bible Days', (a line from which furnished the album with it's title), got a feature spot, and a nice sonic goose from the band. She's missing in the pictures, but look for the perky drummer Anne Lillis, taking care of business in the back, (far left).
Towards the end of the set, they tossed in a heartfelt cover of Buddy Holly's 'Words of Love', then brought it home with the highlight of the night, 'I Can't Lie To You, Love', (below), transforming the slinky number; when cheering begins at the false ending, they bludgeon home the rest of the song, totally transcending the album version, and blowing the crowd away.
They finished off the night with a strong take on 'For Today', making their point, and living to fight another day...the week saw them play the Casbah in San Diego, and the Troubador in LA, before this stop...After the show they'd be driving all night to San Francisco for a gig at Slim's on Saturday. I have a feeling they'll be headlining the next time I see them...
