Last night I went to The Knitting Factory Tap Bar to see Chris Bathgate, along with a few other Michigan performers. I missed the first performer - a guy who goes by the name
Drunken Barn Dance - because I worked late, but I caught part of his last song. It was peaceful singer-songwriter/ acoustic-guitar type music but I didn't catch enough of it to really write about it.
Next up was
The Library is on Fire. It was kind of like The Knitting Factory was playing a game of "one of these things is not like the other." They were noisy rock 'n' rollers from Brooklyn instead of peaceful singer songerwriters from Ann Arbor. Actually, though, I think it was a nice way to shake things up. For the most part I liked them. Their music was upbeat and fun. Every now and then though there'd be something that would take me out of the music - a strange chord or rhythm. I think they could iron that out though with work and become quite a solid band. I guess they have a new bass player and this was his first show with the band. He was one of the more energetic male bass players I've seen (so many bass players are so stoic and motionless).
Chris Bathgate was up next. I believe he said it was his 26th birthday. For those of you who've read my blog before, he is good friends with
Matt Jones. Matt Jones also drums for him sometimes. I can see why they collaborate - Chris Bathgate's music is very much that gentle singer-songwriter music, but it is less whimsical and more dramatic than Matt Jones'. Also unlike Matt Jones who said he "forgot how to be sad," I feel like Chris Bathgate's music has a little more sadness behind it. He played with an electric guitar and lots of reverb. He also made good use out of one of those looping pedals to create beautiful harmonies. I want one of those. I was very impressed. The one thing I would say could be improved would be that he should perform with more confidence. He seemed kind of uncomfortable up on stage, and I know it's scary performing in front of people, but he's very talented so he should stand a little straighter and own the stage a little more.
I got Chris' album at the show, "A Cork Tale Wake." I really like the album and there is more of a variety of genres on the album than there was when he performed. He rocks a little harder on some songs and on one song I'd say he gets downright funky. Part of me almost misses the beautiful looping harmonies, which aren't present on the whole album, but he has a full band behind him on some of the songs, which makes up for it. On a side note: starting today Chris Bathgate is going to live out in the woods for 2 months without electricity and whatnot so he will be incommunicado. He never really explained why, but I hope he enjoys himself nonetheless and he hope the concert was a good send off for him.
Fred Thomas was last, who I believe is from Michigan but now lives in New York? Could be wrong about that but he was/is part of
Saturday Looks Good To Me with Scott from Drunken Barn Dance, so I would assume he lived in Michigan at some point. His music seemed to me to be more of the same - soft singer-songwriter music that made lots of use of the looping pedal. I was less impressed than I was with Chris Bathgate and I was tired (all the gentle music was lulling me to sleep after my 10-hour work day) so I only stayed for the first 15 minutes of the set. Based on the music on his myspace, I think I would like him better with a band behind him.
I had the privilege of seeing Apollo Run play a show with Julius C at the Knitting Factory (one of the last shows at its original location before they close and move to a smaller location) a few weeks ago and also hanging out with them backstage (check back later this summer to see some behind-the-scenes video from the show). The handsome group of guys definitely impressed me with their catchy, dramatic rock tunes, as well as their CatchPhrase abilities (yes, I mean the game CatchPhrase). I know I already said this, but they have a show tonight at Bell House, and they are definitely worth catching (as are The Hard Lessons, my favorite Detroit rock trio). Here are some photos from the Apollo Run set at Knitting Factory, taken by my dear friend Wai Choy, as well as another track to sample:
