Line, Line, Everywhere a Line

Some nights, no matter how good the bands are, I just don’t have a very good time when I go out. I’m not sure what sets me off, and it doesn’t happen very often, but I end up wishing I had stayed at home. Case in point: the Deathray Davies and the M’s show last Tuesday at the Hi Dive. I had heard good things about both bands, so I decided to give the show a try. First off, I have to say that I was really impressed with both groups. The Deathray Davies had a retro sound, but they were a bit more pop than your typical “garage” band. I thought they were terrific. There was a superfan up front during their set doing what I can only describe as a robot dance, it was pretty awesome. The M’s had more of a straight pop sound, but they were quirky enough to keep things interesting. I wouldn’t hesitate to see either band again. So why didn’t I have a better time? I’m really not sure – something had me in a funk, and not even a night of hot boogie could snap me out of it. If this happens again, I think I’m gonna bust out my own robot dance – that should cheer me up.

On Friday, my buddy JT and I caught Swedish band The Sounds at the Ogden. I’ve attempted to see this band twice before – the first time I went to the Larimer Lounge to find that they had cancelled, and the second time the li’l woman and I missed them due to a sellout at the Bluebird. I decided to give them another try, so we went over to the Ogden about an hour after the doors had opened to try our luck. There was a huge line for the box office, and it was barely moving. We were in line for about 30 minutes, and we heard music starting. JT noticed an acquaintance working the door, and walked up to make sure we weren’t missing the headliners. I then heard my name called, and JT was calling me up to the door and his friend was ushering us in for free – you gotta love that. We then waited in another line to go upstairs to the balcony, which is where the bar was located that evening. We then waited in another long line at the bar….I think you can see where this is going.

This is the point where I’m going to go off on a rant about the Ogden Theater. When I was in high school, I loved going to the Ogden to see movies. They stopped doing movies there a long time ago, and at some point in the 90’s it was reopened as a live music venue. If the place is only half full, it’s not a bad place to see a show. But when it’s packed, it is one of the worst places I’ve ever seen a concert – terrible sightlines, lousy ventilation, and an incredibly slow ticket and will call line. Recently, the Ogden went through a much ballyhooed renovation project. I had high hopes as huge improvements were promised, and they did follow through on a few of them – the sound is a little better, and they replaced the sticky old carpet with rubber flooring. The biggest change was the balcony – what used to be a small balcony now wraps around the sides of the venue. We spent the majority of the show up there, and I can’t say that I was very impressed. If you manage to get a seat right up along the railing, you’ll have a good view. If you don’t get one of those spots, you’ll have a partial view of the stage but mostly a view of a side portion of the balcony. I think the balcony increased maximum capacity of the Ogden by about 500 attendees – too bad the majority of those people will be looking at the back of someone’s head. So, all of those changes, and it looks like the Ogden will still be an awful venue when it’s packed. Unless you’re a big fan of waiting in long, slow lines – then you’ll have a great time!

And how was the show? Ehhhhh…it was okay. We saw part of openers Morningwood, who were pretty weak. The most entertaining part of their set was when they got a girl from the audience onstage and the female singer stripped her down to her bra and underwear while singing “I want to see you naked” – you’ve never seen so many guys angling for a better view. (Much hilarity ensued when JT observed “She just removed her belt…her white belt!”) The Sounds were a good bit better, but nothing amazing. The one CD I have, Living in America, has its moments but overall isn’t that impressive. I had heard that the band was much better (and rawer) live, but I was a little disappointed. Maybe it’s due to the fact that they have a very retro 80’s sound, but not the part of the 80’s that I have much nostalgia for – they honestly sound like Kim Wilde or Nena to me at times, there’s way too much synthesizer. We did make it down to the floor for the end of the show, and it was more impressive up close – the singer is really energetic, and nice to look at to boot. Come to think of it, the place was packed and there were a lot of young guys there….yep, it’s gotta be the hot blonde woman on vocals… Overall, not a bad time, but I don’t think I need to see them again – especially if they play at the Ogden.