Rainer Maria.
Damarcus, you were not wrong.
The other night, Rainer Maria put on a brilliant show at the Doug Fir lounge.
The first opening act was a local band called John Weinland. I was very impressed with these guys. They had a very sophisticated Iron & Wine sound, with vocals that seemed like a less whiny variation on Death Cab for Cutie, and very good lyrics. I'll definitely see these guys again if I have the chance.
I was not as impressed with Ambulette, who was touring with Rainer Maria. The drummer for Ambulette seemed to lack any real subtlety. The lead singer, while capable of a Jeff Buckley-esque trill, lacked range. Their formula worked well on power tracks, but not really anywhere else.
When Rainer Maria took the stage, it was quite apparent that they were ready to go. Sometimes even the best of bands need a couple of warm up songs to get going. Not these guys. Rainer Maria brought it from the very first song. And humorous, too: At one point, Caithlin De Marrais' joked, "This is one of the coolest places we've ever played. This is like, the White Lodge or something...", an oblique reference to one of my favorite television shows ever, owing to the Doug Fir's rather log-cabiny interior decor.
For those of you who are unaware, Rainer Maria has been a staple of the indie scene for a number of years now. I first picked up the album 'A Better Version of Me' a few years ago at the behest of my friend Marc, who insisted that these guys were the best live act he'd ever seen. I was skeptical. What I found on the disc were some really laid back but catchy pop tracks with good vocals and a fun sound. I promptly forgot about them. What I heard last night was anything but laid back. They're a lot louder and a lot more fun than I remembered them being.
The band worked incredibly well together, with a smoothness that made it hard to believe that they weren't triplets or some kind of mutant hive mind. They came out for a two song encore, and the last song they played ended in a two minute wall of magnificent noise that could have stripped the paint off the walls had there been any. All in all, a great show.
The other night, Rainer Maria put on a brilliant show at the Doug Fir lounge.
The first opening act was a local band called John Weinland. I was very impressed with these guys. They had a very sophisticated Iron & Wine sound, with vocals that seemed like a less whiny variation on Death Cab for Cutie, and very good lyrics. I'll definitely see these guys again if I have the chance.
I was not as impressed with Ambulette, who was touring with Rainer Maria. The drummer for Ambulette seemed to lack any real subtlety. The lead singer, while capable of a Jeff Buckley-esque trill, lacked range. Their formula worked well on power tracks, but not really anywhere else.
When Rainer Maria took the stage, it was quite apparent that they were ready to go. Sometimes even the best of bands need a couple of warm up songs to get going. Not these guys. Rainer Maria brought it from the very first song. And humorous, too: At one point, Caithlin De Marrais' joked, "This is one of the coolest places we've ever played. This is like, the White Lodge or something...", an oblique reference to one of my favorite television shows ever, owing to the Doug Fir's rather log-cabiny interior decor.
For those of you who are unaware, Rainer Maria has been a staple of the indie scene for a number of years now. I first picked up the album 'A Better Version of Me' a few years ago at the behest of my friend Marc, who insisted that these guys were the best live act he'd ever seen. I was skeptical. What I found on the disc were some really laid back but catchy pop tracks with good vocals and a fun sound. I promptly forgot about them. What I heard last night was anything but laid back. They're a lot louder and a lot more fun than I remembered them being.
The band worked incredibly well together, with a smoothness that made it hard to believe that they weren't triplets or some kind of mutant hive mind. They came out for a two song encore, and the last song they played ended in a two minute wall of magnificent noise that could have stripped the paint off the walls had there been any. All in all, a great show.
posted by Q. at 12:42:00 AM
1 Comments:
Glad you enjoyed the show but I'm not sure I insisted they were the best live act I'd ever seen. That title goes to Pizzicato Five (1996 Cotton Club, Atlanta, GA).
Now you have to go see Controller.Controller... the best live band I've ever seen.
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