Mission of Burma and Chris Brokaw at Toad's

Mission of Burma and Chris Brokaw at Toad's Place - 9/20/07

Of all the reunion bands going around, I think Mission of Burma is my favorite. Their new stuff is damn near as good as their old and they still play their old really well. I caught them on the 2004 tour and was really impressed. When I saw they were booked at Toad's again, I knew I didn't want to pay that much to see them again, but I realized I could use my new connections to get in for free.

The opener was Chris Brokaw. I usually have a hard time with a solo guy with an electric guitar, but he did a decent job filling up the space. He had noisy moments and poppy moments. Nothing blew me away, but it didn't make me run away either.



Mission of Burma just seemed like they were having a really good time. Roger Miller had his amp out front, but wasn't wearing the shooting-range earmuffs. They played a lot of new stuff, but they hit "That's How I Escaped My Certain Fate" and, my favorite, "Trem Two." There was talk that they'd to "That's When I Reached for My Revolver" at midnight, but it didn't happen.



Yeah, so, good times. I was glad to see that Toad's place didn't take any time during the three months they were closed to clean the place up any. Floors still as sticky as ever. The smoke machine smelled a little stale, too.

The Ivory Bills and The Vultures at Cafe 9

The Ivory Bills and The Vultures at Cafe 9 - 9/8/07

Two of New Haven's past and presently most popular bands put on a pretty good show together. The Ivory Bills played a set, then the Vultures, then both bands again separately, then both bands together.

The Ivory Bills rocked harder than I expected them to, all things considered. I'd seen James Velvet do his folk thing before, but I never got a chance to see the Mockingbirds so I didn't know about his more aggressive tendencies.

The Vultures played a set of mall punk songs w/ vocals, then a set of surfey instrumentals. It was a good way to break things up.



Having both bands play together was very strange. For one thing, they made for a bizarre visual impression. James Velvet is at least a head taller than Warren Brelsford. I kept expecting Warren to climb up on Velvet's back and play on his shoulders. They did a cover of "Waiting for the Man" and some Louisiana blues thing. Velvet was enthusiastic, but most of the band members seemed confused. Then, one of the strangest things I'd ever seen, the drummer from the Ivory Bills played bass and sang for a cover of "The Message." I don't know how well that worked, musically speaking, but it was fun to watch.