The Vultures and The Danglers at Side Bar - 4/15/06

Thursday, April 20, 2006

So, the Vultures and the Danglers played at this trashy, trendy little place on Orange Street called Side Bar. It was great to see all the bar skanks scatter as the weirdos piled in. My favorite part of the venue was the backs of the stools had the shape of martini glasses cut in silhouette; very classy.
The show started late. Dwight Dangler was MIA. They tried to start without him; Darla and Dewey sang some covers. They made it through three songs before running out of material and asking the Vultures to sit in. They used the Danglers' equipment for a couple of songs before Dwight showed up.
After that strange prologue, the actual show was pretty great. Dwight was in top form, repeatedly running outside mid-song and despite the bouncer's best efforts, he jumped up and did one song atop the bar. During one escapade outside, he harassed passing motorists with his bullhorn.
The rest of the band was in good shape, too. Very solid and aggressive.
It was a long time since I'd seen the Vultures. It seems like they haven't played in months, but all of a sudden they have a show every week for the next month. The range of styles they attempt is encouraging. You'd have to call it mostly-instrumental rock, but that's about as narrow as it gets. They favor heavier stuff; sure, it's metal, but tastefully done.
It's always a treat to see someone handle the guitar that comfortably. And they seem to have great band chemistry - to the extent that Warren keeps his back to the audience a lot of the time in order to keep eye contact with the bandmates. He did, at one point, leave the section of floor designated as stage to venture out into the audience. I've never seen somebody play guitar that effectively in such cramped quarters.
So, it was a good night. Nothing really new or life-changing, but I enjoyed myself thoroughly.

For a change, I took some video this time around. I was surprised at the quality. It's dark, but I think that adds to the character; Warren looks like a shadow. For some reason, when I uploaded it to YouTube, the audio and the video went out of sync. It's worth a look, anyway: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENbQahosZdY

I also took pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldangelmidnight/sets/72057594109066144/

Band sites:
http://www.myspace.com/thevultures
http://www.myspace.com/danglersnewhaven