Why I Like the Movie Slapshot So Much: Ed Harcourt, Eulogies, and Army Navy @ Spaceland, June 4, 2008

Well, I was able to drag myself out of a dark, dark hole of work to get to a show last week over at Spaceland. If Ed Harcourt can come all the way from England to play here, then I can get myself to the club.

Here's a thought. Does Dewars own some kind of right to be the only alcohol that is offered for free or close to free around LA? It seems that ANY time I am out at a place that is their only drink special. Now, I don't mind the stuff. I have a pretty tolerable palate for most things alcohol- this coming from the person who in high school thought Rumplemintz was the shit. Anyways, I can drink the stuff, albeit mixed with some diet coke, but some of my other friends have such a negative reaction to it, grumbling phrases like "it tastes like socks" or "it tastes like band aids". It tastes like Scotch, not 60 year aged scotch, but scotch nonetheless (please feel free to tell me how little I know about being a scotch connoisseur below, really I'll totally appreciate it).

Right, so there was a show. Army Navy. I'm not sure where they are from, somewhere on this coast line I believe. My initial reaction was that they were non-offensive, happy, sunny indie rock. The lead singer had hints of Robert Schneider in his voice, although my friend who accompanied me this night stated that if he didn't remind her so much of Tobey Maguire she could not listen to him. Now, what I am about to say could, inevitably, stop all 5 of you from reading this blog anymore, HOWEVER, I will say it anyway. I was perfectly happy with the band until they did a cover of Maxine Nightingale's "Right Back Where We Started From"... then I loved them. This, technically, was the last full song listened to in my car before we parked for Spaceland. I make no excuses for loving that song so much, and they did a very nice cover, so I think it's justifiable that I sang along and decided to forget that all of them were wearing skinny jeans. If I hadn't had so much of a buzz on by the end of the night I would have checked to see if they had their EP for sale, cause I refuse to purchase anything off ITunes. I don't own an IPod so I don't see the point.

The second band, Eulogies (although I didn't catch their name once during the set so I had to go back and look it up), was hit or miss with me. Also, they kept alternating between a 3 piece and a 4 piece (one guy kept wandering off and on the stage). It was a lot darker in contrast to the first set. I am looking back at my notes now and noticing I was reference Voxtrot and Varnaline- although the latter I have no idea what I was thinking. I found I enjoyed their more energetic songs more, perhaps because it was provoking some more emotion from the band, myself, and the crowd.

My first thought when Ed Harcourt took the stage was that he reminded me of an old Timey apothecary and Josh Brolin's character in "No Country For Old Men". But then the voice coming out was British. Harcourt's music makes me think that not all piano based British bands have to suck. He is dark, funny, and a good storyteller by way of Waits and the like. Oh yeah, I'm making that comparison. Granted, there were several technical difficulties this night, but he waved them away with some chit chat. There was a 'full' band tonight as well, including a trumpet and violin. The combined effort of the 6 musicians though made it sound even 'fuller' than just 6 people. The songs were coming from his latest (although technically it was released in the UK TWO years ago) album, The Beautiful Lie, as well as other releases- I recognized "Born in the 70's" from 2004's Strangers. It was a good show, even if he didn't cover cheesy 70's songs.

Shut Up and Rock! The Fucking Champs @ Spaceland, January 13, 2007

Interspersed between the usual crowd of young hipsters at Spaceland Saturday night loomed patches of another type of audience: black jeans, long hair, wait! Was that an Iron Maiden t-shirt? Very rarely do the metal kids come together alongside their polar opposites, the hip kids, to enjoy a band. At least not without a possible fight or two. But this was not the case as one of the strangest varieties of audience members, and performers piled into Spaceland Saturday January 13.

And who were they all waiting to see? Well according to the L.A. Times it was the opening band, Citay, but really, it was in fact, The Fucking Champs.

Being the excellent reporting person that I am, I not only did NOT read said Times article, I am stating this purely on hearsay. Citay, for an opening band, was not bad. They would probably have been better if there charming folky pop songs sung by several men and women in harmony complete with flute, keys, tambourines, and several other band members had been followed by several other bands with similar tastes in music. But opening for semi-instrumental metal music bands? Who decided to book them?

This odd choice on behalf of the booking people subsequently led me to go sit in the other room at Spaceland pretty much till the Fucking Champs took the stage. My ears would need the rest considering the sheer volume that was to be put out by the main band.

Three nondescript guys take the stage. They possibly could have been your stoner friends in college, or now perform in some kind of jazz fusion ensemble; anything but the sounds that were about to come out from the amplifiers. The sounds are loud and harsh. The kind of sweaty rock that, being a girl, should intimidate me, and yet I find myself quite compelled to stare and watch.

One factor that separates T.F.C’s from your run of the mill metal band is their use of double lead guitars- no bass, no vocals, just two leads, and inspiration in part from Thin Lizzy, a known influence for them, which also makes me appreciate them even more.

There is no point trying to recall names of songs- they do stop and start, change tempo, change key, but other than the two songs that actually do have lyrics (Extra Man and Some Swords) The Fucking Champs’ simply throw out a tornado of sound that you need to just take in and try not to let your ear drums burst. The structures of the songs though seem very calculated. It might have to do with the very little moving on their part during the show. Or, perhaps they are able to simplify such complex tunes by looking like it is nothing to them. They simply flick their wrists- and out comes rock.