The Bouncing Souls with Lifetime and None More Black at Webster Hall 8.20.09

The Bouncing Souls have been around for 20 years. I'm not going to pretend that I've invested as much time as their tried and true fans (they almost are older than me). I have always like The Bouncing Souls, and add to that Lifetime, a favorite band of mine, plus None More Black (who I have not seen but I have seen Paint It Black several times, more on my confusion later), a couple co-workers and I decided to catch the Souls at their 20th anniversary point at Webster Hall last night.

None More Black includes ex-Kid Dynamite lead singer Jason Chevchuk's previous band. They are not to be confused with Dan Yemin's Paint It Black (Dan is part of Lifetime AND was part of Kid Dynamite). Dan's kind of a beast; the last time I saw Paint It Black they came to Brooklyn to play a night show after playing a day show in Philly.

Anywho, None More Black immediately conjured up a lookalike familiarity. Jason looks like Dave Lieberman from Food Network's Good Deal With Dave Lieberman. The bassist looks like my co-worker Jean. The lead guitarist looks like a cross between Jack Black and Michael Pena. I figured the drummer could pass for MMA fighter Nick Diaz, but then I thought more closer to MMA fighter Joey Villasenor mixed in with Geoff from Ace of Cakes. Of course, I wasn't in the pit for this one so I wasn't super close, and when I took a look at their mugs online, I wasn't quite sure of my assumptions. Anywho, the long, headbanging hairs of the guitarist and bassist reminded me of the bassist from Unwritten Law. Good thing or bad thing?

It was NMB's first show in NYC in 3 years. The crowd was pretty tight for an opening band, and None More Black actually warmed up as they shot through their set so by the time they were done people were revved up. Great for Lifetime, I was into it though and wouldn't have minded an extra song or two from all the bands (leave it to Webster Hall to have tight curfews on certain nights, although at least it prevents the bands from taking too much time between sets). Jason's voice is really cool, he's known for his sing-along "whoa, oh oh" tendencies but he's got this funky combination of hoarse and nasal tones to his vocals that gives the songs a particularly scrappy flavor. Sure Ari from Lifetime is somewhat similar, but he sounds more like he has a cold (in a good way, don't worry I would never bad mouth them). Jason sounds like he just ate a shitload of Pop Rocks.

After getting another 5 dollar PBR (well they open the can for you, so tack on an extra 3 doll- yeah no that's terrible) we were ready to throw down in the pit for Lifetime. It wasn't as raucous as the last time I saw them probably, but by throw down I mean we prevented ourselves from getting more than a bruise or two.

The great thing about Lifetime is they have a very, very assured presence. No smiling. Deadpan. Serious thank yous. When they mention that it's great that there's no barrier set up between the stage and that the crowd should pick up the pace and get the pit going, but in a really nonchalant way, you know they know they're the shit. Calm violence? I guess that sounds creepy. It's not a pretentious thing, it's just a quiet confidence that shines through. Their music kind of acts the same way: sure they are fast and loud but not for the sake of being fast or loud. It feels more like a real form of expression than many similar bands, and their lyrics are as low key as any, direct and simple. It was great to see them again (they are playing with Bouncing Souls this weekend in their home state of Jersey).

Ole, ole ole ole. We decided to stay in the background for Bouncing Souls, but in the end I believe it would have only been right to get in the mix for at least part of their set (they played what seemed to be a short set for a 20th anniversary show). Speeding up the pace a bit, they blazed through favorites like "Hopeless Romantic" and "Fight To Live" and lead singer Greg Attonito has a wonderful lazy chanting/shouting quality that really gets the crowd moving. Even with that, there were a couple of stage divers, and I'm not sure why, but punk fans whenever they steal the mic for a bit, they are NEVER in tune. Not that it would really matter, it's the heart that counts, but still, c'mon people! Oh, and the stage diving was kept up full steam but an interesting thing happened when a man, in his wheelchair, was hoisted up and brought from all the way in the back to the front of the stage...twice. He didn't quite make it the second time, but props for him actually keeping upright on the first try.
7 full albums and 20 years is a long time to be so consistent and well received by the community. Their melodies are tried and true and is instantly accessible, there's a lightness to their songs, whether it's the fun, almost nice lyrics, or the runner's pacing that they instill, or maybe it's just the trademark button down/wacky tie combo that Greg always wears and the wife-beater scrappiness of bassist Bryan Kienlen. Who knows. They are a fun band to watch, without the machismo of snottier bands. Kind of like a real men wear pink thing. Or maybe I'm just being silly.

More thoughts to come. Or maybe not.

Update: Some great photos on Brooklyn Vegan were posted yesterday from the Tim Barry/7 Seconds second night at Webster with The Bouncing Souls. Check them out here.

Camera Obscura @ Webster Hall 6.24.09

I'm a fan of Camera Obscura because they remind me of a throwback 60s style pop (I'm a huge fan of the Pipettes as well). They also throw in different elements evident on all their albums, a kind of slow, reflective, dreamy pop with some lush instrumentals but with cuts like "If Looks Could Kill" firmly rooted in a Phil Spector-ish sound. Instantly I think of fellow Scots like the Delgados and Belle & Sebastian (Stuart Murdoch produced their first record, Biggest Blue Hi-Fi).

Lead singer TracyAnn Campbell (with a big-ass flower hair piece) smiled about 6 times during the show (I know that's what you all were wondering). Maybe 8 max. The music may be fairly cheery but lyrically they are earnest and pretty heartfelt, sometimes downtrodden.

One thing's for sure, I enjoyed the show at Warsaw a couple years ago more than this one at Webster Hall. Don't get me wrong, it was great. A couple things got me in a rut: a couple cut right in front of me with only inches to spare and kind of annoyingly nudged into other people's spaces. Why? Too much PDA. Way too much. Licking earlobes, etc. To boot, the guy was 6'3" and kept moving his position to block mine every other second. On top of that, the girl was trying to whisper to the dude that I wouldn't budge from my spot, but I could totally hear them. Whisper fail.

Second point is to people at concerts in general: I think it's okay to yell out stuff. It's an ice breaker sometimes. However, stop yelling out song titles that you want the band to play. Most bands have what's called a set list (granted, some have room for mixing it up, including taking an audience request WHEN THEY CLEARLY STATE IT TO THE CROWD). You can whine and moan about them not playing your favorite song afterward, but it's really no use to scream it every 10 minutes. TracyAnn picked up on this, but my favorite was Piebald way back when, as people requested songs, they threatened to not play any songs that people were shouting out if they kept it up.

The band is can be kind of twee pop; I love their sound, as I stated it's very lush and there's lots of wonderful lead hooks coming from the guitar as well as the keyboardist Carey who was probably rocking out the hardest. I was not quite as impressed last night with TracyAnn's vocals compared to when I saw them at Warsaw, although it was very humid at Webster Hall and I'm sure it takes a toll in little ways. Her voice was still great but I had a small sense that she struggled a little more this time around. Again, their sound live, even though they were missing the big string sounds on plenty of their songs, what really anchored the performance were the rumbling drums and warm basslines, almost overpowering at some points even.

I really enjoyed the Bruce Springsteen cover of "Tougher Than The Rest," which they played during the encore for the first time live. It was a great choice of an older artist with a long list of credentials in pop and rock, and I feel like nobody really covers The Boss because well, he's The Boss. Some people don't like him that much either, so that contributes to it.

With several cuts from each album filling their hour plus set, people really reacted the strongest to all the songs from Let's Get Out Of This Country. I feel like that's the case often times, people cheer stronger whatever a song from the next to last album is played, unless that was a slump and the newest album is better.

Webster Hall provided great sound as usual, and exiting was a bitch, as usual. The flashes of lighting show wasn't really necessary, although the band doesn't get too many points for stage presence, so all those greens and blues were a nice enhancement.

I apologize for the lack of pictures as I try to get my camera up and running a'gin. You can find Camera Obscura at their official site.

Very Beach Boys here: