Homegrown 101X Show

For the second week in a row, I went to a midweek show that had me out very late and destroyed the rest of my week. This one was at Emo's Lounge Wednesday night and was sponsored by 101X. The first band didn't start 'til after 10 so I knew I would be out late. @G and Kristin were there. Fiction was talented but none of us liked them very much. They had two Nords: an electro and a lead, and used some electric cello and a distorted Rhodes with a crazy jury rigged 2x4 sustain pedal. All good stuff, but their music felt messy and it was hard to tell what was going on when multiple instruments were playing similar parts. The drummer played some cool stuff but we really needed a stronger beat to get into their groove. The songs we liked more had a stronger, more regular rock beat.

The Story Of was second. I've seen them three or four times now, so unfortunately I'm running out of things to say. I was glad they played Wanderlust which is the song I'm most familiar with since they play it on MEtv all the time. I paid the most attention to this song and was pleased to see our friend Alex plays my favorite lick in the song on the Juno-G. It just consists of four notes but I like the filter effect. Also the guitar lick at the end was actually played by two guitars, not one as I previously thought. I really like their keyboard sounds in this one. The other keyboard had its identifying marks covered so I couldn't tell what it was. They surprised us by playing All You Need Is Love which they played at the John Lennon hoot night. I wish I paid more attention to the start of AYNIL because they had some sequenced parts and the song starts with brass, so I'm wondering how they get that song going.

I love going to see a band I know and being able to discover another one that I like. The Noise Revival Orchestra was that band this night. They sounded downright strange to begin with utilizing a powerful odd organ part at the start and between songs. They also featured flute in many of their songs which stood out prominently. There was 13 people in this band, 8 in front consisting of the lead singer/guitar player, flute, two or three backup singers, and a three guy brass section. Strange that the lead singer/guitar player was the only one sitting down. The flute player seemed to be drinking the most, which is nice because now I feel less guilty about playing harmonica while having a beer. In back were 5 more people on keyboards, drums, and xylophone. I thought it was strange that they had two drum sets since they mostly seemed to be playing the same thing, but maybe that's necessary when you have so many other band members drowning you out. Near the end they had an a capella part with everyone singing which was very cool. I don't know what to say musically about these guys other than it was very different and took a little while to get into, but I was impressed by what they were doing and will see them again.