Spindrift, A Place to Bury Strangers, & The Black Angels at Bowery Ballroom - November 7, 2007

Click image for Spindrift photo gallery


Click image for A Place to Bury Strangers photo gallery


Click image for The Black Angels photo gallery

This has to be one of the best shows I've seen in many years. I was feeling a little down before the show. I have breakfast most mornings with a bunch of friends at a little bakery in Park Slope, where I live. Our waitress is the sweetest young woman...we all absolutely adore her, and look forward to seeing her every morning. She even draws little hearts around our our total on the check (awwww). At first I thought she only did it for us...but it turns out she does it for everyone who comes in (I think?) I was heartbroken when I found that out!

Somehow (as shy as I am, I sometimes surprise even myself) I had invited her to come to see this show with me (totally innocuously I might add, although she is quite adorable!). She actually said yes. So I got tickets...the day before the show I told her I'd call to figure out how we were going to meet up. Anyway, the day of the show I called...3 times...no answer, just voicemail. She finally called me five minutes before the show...told me she'd totally lost track of time (yeah right), and that she owed me big time! I knew that wasn't going to stop me from enjoying the show...and this was certainly not the first time I'd gotten stood up (even though you never get used to it!) Well, I definitely enjoyed the show, although I would have loved to have had company...and when it comes down to it, it was her loss. I was a little miffed...but this girl is just so sweet I couldn't help but buy her an "A Place to Bury Strangers" t-shirt. Hmmm...she owes me? Call me sucker (she called me a dork...but she really likes dorks). Yeah...I am definitely a dork (but in a good way...I hope)

I did come up with a suitable way for her to make it up to me...a portrait session with her and her Jack Russell puppy Cider. When I told her, I think she was relieved (or maybe she really wants me to take photographs of her?) Anyway...I think we both win on that one. She just better not blow me off on this one ;-)

Anyway...about the show.

Spindrift sounds like a psychedelic version of of Ennio Morricone (throw in some surf guitars while you are at it). Watch Sergio Leone's film, "A Fist Full of Dynamite", drop some acid (no, I'm not advocating drug use here), and turn up the lights and heat (put the dehumidifier on "parch" setting). I almost expected Clint Eastwood (the young one) to step out from behind the stage. I think I might have even seen James Coburn and Rod Steiger sitting at the bar before the show. Better yet, track down a copy of Spindrift's "The Legend of God's Gun" available from CD Baby.

Spindrift are:
Kirpatrick Thomas - Guitar and Vocals
Jason "Plucky" Anchando - Drums
Henry Evans - Bass and Baritone Guitar
Dave Koenig - Rhythm Guitar and Harmonica
Dan Allaire - Percussion
Julie Patterson - Keyboards
Frankie Emerson - Keyboards, Guitar
Marcos Diablero - Harmonium, Autoharp, and Slide Guitar

A Place to Bury Strangers
The loudest band in New York City? The loudest band in the United States? Probably. I knew I was going to actually go and buy earplugs for this one...and it was a good investment. These guys are great...just because they are loud doesn't mean they aren't good. And the light show was intense...too bad these guys weren't around when I was a teenager (when I actually did drop acid...probably a few too many times!) because I would have been their biggest fan. I've got to go see if I can find lyrics to their songs...the music was so incredible...now I want to know what their songs are actually about. Their CD "A Place to Bury Strangers" was already on heavy rotation on my iPod for months before I saw them...so between listening to that, and what I had heard from others who had seen them live, I had an idea of what to expect. But there is nothing to compare to seeing them live.

A Place to Bury Strangers are:
Oliver Ackermann - Guitars. Vox
JSpace - Drums
Jono MOFO - Bass

I'd love to say The Black Angels sound like Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd meets the Velvet Underground, but that really doesn't do justice to them. The Black Angels have their own sound. The music is dark and droning and powerful. This is also music that could only have been made in America in the 21st century. There is also a level of musicianship (imho) that Pink Floyd or the Velvet Underground didn't have. Everyone seemed to swap instruments on different songs. Their album "Passover" is definitely at the top of my shortlist of CDs to buy.

The Black Angels are:
Christian Bland
Alex Maas
Stephanie Bailey
Jennifer Raines
Nate Ryan
Kyle Hunt