We AIN’T Got the Neutron Bomb!

I have now had my first official concert letdown of 2005. Legendary LA punks the Weirdos were scheduled to play at the Climax Lounge (a decent venue that rarely seems to get good bookings). Having never seen them before, I’ve been excited about this since it showed up in the club listings. Well, me and my pal JT got to the venue to find that the band were not going to make it – they were caught somewhere in a snowstorm. Kind of funny, as there was unbelievably nice weather here over the weekend. I’m not sure where the band was traveling from. I had a strange premonition that the show might not happen, I guess I was just too excited about it!

Compounding my disappointment was a flier I saw coming out of Gabors, one of my favorite watering holes, before we headed to the Climax. There is a club next door, the Cricket on the Hill, which I’ve never been to but is reportedly a real craphole. Posted on their future show listings was a flier for the Polysics. If you’re not familiar with the Polysics, I have two words for you: Japanese Devo. ‘Nuff said! I was thrilled, and then JT noticed that that show had happened two days earlier. There hadn’t been any ads or even a small print listing of the show in the local arts weekly. I thought that maybe it had been booked at the last minute and there wasn’t time to get the show in the paper. Nope – I checked the band’s website, and their entire tour had been booked and listed over a month ago. It was just laziness on the club’s part. Sometimes it sucks being in Denvoid.

The year has gotten off to a slow start on the show front; I’ve only been to three so far:

Visqueen – a pretty good set from this Seattle band, if no real surprises. As bassist (and former Fastback) Kim Warnick has retired from music, Ronnie Barnett from the Muffs was helping out. A friend commented that it looked as if singer/guitarist Rachel Flotard had shrunk, but then we realized it just looked like she had due to Ronnie’s height. I picked up their new CD, Sunset on Dateland, and it’s good if a bit short at only 9 songs. Local kids The Symptoms played a good opening set.

The Thermals – another PNW band, from Portland. I had never heard them before, I just went out of curiosity, and I liked them. Their new album, Fuckin A, is pretty good and has a fair bit of political (i.e. anti-Bush) content. Locals the Hot IQ’s warmed up, who every writer around here thinks will be Mootown’s big breakout group. They’re not bad, but don’t really leave much of an impression with me. Maybe it was because I was stuck in the bar – the Larimer Lounge is an awful place to see an all ages show.

Secret Machines – the li’l woman and I drove up to Boulder for this, and it was well worth the trip. The first time I saw this band, they played for a small crowd in a club (and were awesome). What a difference a few months can make. Granted, the Fox Theatre isn’t huge, but it’s a good bit bigger than the Larimer Lounge. Plus, the place was packed. The band was terrific, and really loud, and it looks like their label had laid out a little bit more tour support – they had a big light and fog show. A totally cool show, we were both blown away. The first warmup act, Autolux, were a bit slow but not too bad. The kids seemed to love the next band, Moving Units, but they didn’t do much for me (they really irritated the li’l woman). How many 80’s sounding guitar bands with a disco beat do we need? It’s time to call a moratorium!

Things should start picking up as the weather gets nicer. It’s looking like March and April are going to be much more eventful – good for my sanity, but bad for my finances!