Sex and Death USA, The Villains and The Danglers at Side Bar

Sex and Death USA, The Villains and The Danglers at Side Bar - 9/2/06

The thing about Side Bar is, it's a trashy little coke den that's not set up in any way to host live music. But, they keep trying. This time, the bands set up in the back room and you couldn't hear shit out front.
Sex and Death USA could, potentially, get to be pretty exciting, but for now they're just okay. As it is, they're doing standard, classic-style rock adequately. They either need to make it a whole lot weirder or they need to do something to engage the audience more. Their singer seems a bit timid, he spends too much time looking at the rest of the band. I like things unconventional, so I'd like to see them get weirder; but I'd be satisfied to see them just do what they're doing, but more intense. They're a pretty young band, they're technically proficient, I think they have room to grow.
The Villains play simple, faltering, rudimentary, garagey rock. In a city that already has the Battlecats, I don't know that we need the Villains. The drummer's good though. I only ever saw him play with the Cavemen Go and that was a couple of years ago. He seemed afraid of the drums that time; not this time, though. He was hitting them hard enough that he kept knocking over the cymbal stand and moving the whole drum setup around.
Even when The Danglers make a mess of things, it's a glorious mess. The story goes that it was drummer Cousin Eddie's birthday and it seemed like they just wanted to have a good time. Even when the songs fell apart, though, it worked on a certain level. It's all part of the Danglers' mythos - that potential for disaster. I'm probably overstating the point, though. Most of the set was fine. And Kriss's new country song was very nice.

Photographs:
http://flickr.com/photos/oldangelmidnight/sets/72157594275052983/

etc.

http://www.myspace.com/sexanddeathusa

http://www.myspace.com/newhavenvillains

http://tension.net/danglers.html

Redbeard and The Shondes at Cafe 9

Redbeard and The Shondes at Cafe 9 - 8/31/06

Redbeard played a little sloppier this night than the first time I saw them. Everyone seemed to be having a good time and the energy was good in the room, but the performance wasn't as tight. That said, the first time I saw them was a magical night, so maybe that set the bar a little too high.
The Shondes are a queer Jewish riot grrl band from New York. Picture that and you pretty much know what to expect. They certainly have their schtick down. It was a good performance, though. A lot of honest intensity and complex rhythmic interplay. They have a violinist, and that's cool. And they introduced me to the Jews against the occupation movement. The fact that they're an activist band doesn't influence my opinon one way or the other, it's just this particular movement hadn't occurred to me before.

Pictures:
http://flickr.com/photos/oldangelmidnight/sets/72157594263350213/

etc.

http://www.myspace.com/redbeardband

http://www.myspace.com/theshondes