Staring at My Shoes: Adam Franklin @ the Echo July 17, 2007

I admit that once Swervedriver was no more, I never got into Adam Franklin's other projects. However, a couple weeks back I found out he was putting out a solo record in his name and that it was sorta a throw back to the older stuff but really just plain amazingly good. Turned out it was (you can read my review on Little Radio if you'd feel so inclined). So I looked to see if he was touring here to support it, and by chance he was. Cheers all around.

I didn't recognize the other bands on the bill. Although I found out at the last moment that the Black Lips were playing a midnight show. But, I'd seen them before and had to get up early the next morning for work, so... Trying to show up later, we still got there just as the first band (Benni Hemm Hemm I believe) was finishing. It was kinda neat to enter the Echo to a blaring horn section. After hearing them close I wished I'd made the effort to show up a bit earlier, but oh well.

The second band, The Black Watch (almost positive I'm not mixing these two up), made me think to myself, "this is all such a very British night". They just reminded me of a band coming out of the mid-90's Brit Pop scene, but with a more brooding looking. It sounded decent enough but we opted to sit this one outside.

When Adam Franklin hit the stage I was suddenly drawn back into a time warp, and it felt so good. Either it was the whiskey I'd been drinking, or it was the fact that it's been so long since I've been to a show of this type, I dunno, but I was just all warm and happy hearing the music. Franklin creates these wonderful swirling melodies that layer up real nice and make you feel like you're swimming in the music. He played tracks (I believe all of them) from his newest release Bolts of Memory, which I would suggest picking up. Another thought I had while listening is if people still look for make-out music, because this would probably fit pretty well into that category. However, I can't actually remember going out of my way to do that since high school...

Oh, and sorry for the grainy film still photos here. Camera is on the fritz, could not possibly be the photographer. If you want some color shots of Adam, click on over here.