Henry Clay People and The Rosewood Thieves @ Little Radio December 15, 2007

I seem to be cursed when it comes to seeing shows at Little Radio. Or rather, when I want to see a show there, something happens to prevent me from doing so. It almost did this night, but in the end, I ended up just being to tired to finish the night past one and stay to see Dead Meadow.

The funny thing about the LR space is that it's not quite a venue yet. So, things like time do not matter, which is nice cause you can be lazy and take a nap after dinner, and even though start time says 9:30 on your invite, chances are nothing will begin till almost 11. Such was the case tonight, although I can't quite recall what the actual start time was, but I do know it was not 9:30.

The first band up was The Rosewood Thieves from New York. When they started playing they were not in my line of sight, so I thought a DJ was playing the Stones, a song I had not heard before, but the Stones nonetheless. However, when I turned the corner I was surprised to see a live band playing. They fluctuated between that folksy rock and some freak-folk styling that I still don't know what my opinion is of it. It turns out they're more well known than I thought, accumulating much in the way of good press. Their playing was on point the whole time they were up on the giant snowflake covered stage, making me feel that there kudos were very much earned.

Second up, and the last band I caught tonight, was the Henry Clay People, dressed as the Santa Claus People (or just the Santa people, I forget now...). I've praised this band before, however tonight they're playing was completely different. Maybe it was the Holiday season, maybe it was the Santa Claus costumes, maybe it was too much Dewars, but lead singer Joey Siara kept scaring me as he swayed and leapt all over the stage. In fact, Christopher felt the need to stay close to the stage in case he fell off. (For some photographic examples, click here for a slideshow at LA Weekly) However, the playing and sound were great. They played a bunch off their album, and some other stuff I didn't recognize- like usual.

Anyways, if you get the opportunity to go to a show at Little Radio, you should. They like to decorate, and know how to throw a party.

Coming soon: my review of live shows in 2007, cause I like lists.

That Boy's A Wild One: Frog Eyes, Alex Delivery, and The Henry Clay People @ Spaceland May 5, 2007

Surprises can be awesome. Case in point: on Spaceland's calendar for the lineup tonight only 2 bands were listed. But surprise! There was a third band in the lineup tonight: The Henry Clay People, who I missed at the Spires show a couple weeks back due to extreme illness. However, surprises can also suck, like the fact that the club stayed fairly NOT PACKED for the entire show. I'm still not sure why people have not latched on to Frog Eyes yet. Is it cause they're Canadian?

The Henry Clay People are local and play all over but I always seem to miss them. I seemed to miss their introduction and didn't find out who they were till almost the end. But, the entire time they played, I kept thinking, 'this band is awesome'. Their sound is the indie rock I grew up on in the late nineties, but it doesn't sound old. They were a fun band who was enjoyable to watch cause they all looked like they wanted to be there playing, which more bands should do.

The Jagjaguwar label puts out some pretty reputable bands, bands I like to listen to very often (Okkervil River, Swan Lake, Ladyhawk). Alex Delivery is the band they seem to be really pushing right now. I heard ONE song before I went to this show and thought it was ok. OH, but live they were different, in a not-so-good way. There was a weird cross between 'jam music' and electronic that I found disagreeable. Not to mention that one chick's job was just to hit a block and make jangly noises. 10 minutes into the set and we left. They were still playing the first song.

The Frog Eyes' set was super. I wish I could think of a better word to describe it right now but I can't. Maybe super fantastic, but that sounds a bit tarded. Anyways, this time I tried to be very dilligent and make a note of the songs they played. Alas, when I checked my notes later, all written in pencil, in the dark mind you, there was just a #2 smudged mess written on top of some crap I needed to remember to pick up from the grocery store. Ah well. They did cover many news songs off their album Tears of the Valedictorian, including: Idle Songs, Stockades, Eagle Energy, Bushels and some older ones that have long names I can't remember. Again I was amazing with the ferocity that Carey Mercer exudes while playing/singing. It's such a sharp contrast to when he is announcing songs or chit chatting with the audience. Even walking around prior to the show, he seemed very small and introverted. But when he starts to shriek lyrics, his groaning escalating to a falsetto and back again, he becomes much larger and carries the entire band behind him.

The set up this time was the four piece minus keys. I guess the only thing that could have made the set extra super would have been to have Spencer Krug on keys, who complements Mercer's performance with his own erratic playing. But he was with Sunset Rubdown in Boston this night. Anyways, the set sounded a bit 'harder' than they usually do, more 'rock' with out the electronic noises that sporadically pop up in their tunes. This is not a bad aspect though, just different.

I think if I keep writing, it will just be a gush of how much I admire and love this band. So, I'll end this right here, urging everyone to go and show some respect to our cousins up north. Cause Canadians can rock too.