Mute Math

I seem to be attending a lot of Tuesday night shows. This time to a sold out Slims, which really isn't the optimal situation. There are no seats, its kinda cramped, and you are resigned to have to push your way through the crowd to acquire such things as beer, or bathroom relief from said beer. That said, this was an EXCELLENT $15 show.

I caught 3 of the 4 bands. The Cinematics were a quality band that falls into the U2 indie crossover camp. I've seen a couple of such bands over the last five years or so. These guys were quite good, especially for being the opener opener.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin were on next, and clearly it was the optimum time to see these guys. They've been around for quite some time, but this would be the first gig they've played since Yelstin passed away. They had a solid crew in the middle of the crowd that LOVED them and were quite drunk (they rallied the crowd to sing Hey Jude in between sets), so good times ensued. They were pretty solid band, but nothing that I would go out of my way to see. The bass player gave a speech, written on a napkin. And, lo and behold, they put the speech on their website:

"Boris Yeltsin was a kind man. But what kind of man was he? With sprite and in spite he tried to do away with the totaliterian ways of his country. He also loved to play tennis. In fact, he was in tennis as he was in politics; he tried to serve well but was not without faults. After his resignation on New Years 1999, he left the public's eye and did as he pleased. With a bottle of vodka at his side, he struggled against his health until this past Sunday, when he passed away. Boris Yeltsin may have died of heart failure, but he never failed to have heart. He will remain in our hearts and band name forever. Someone still loves you, Boris Yeltsin."

Then he wiped his nose with the napkin.

Eventually, Mute Math took the stage, and brought it big. They were fairly outstanding. The hype is well deserved. They played hard and really well. The drummer was nutballs. The lead singer duder had the voice and the chops. The sound was thick and layered with cool synthetic textures. They were simply super solid, huge stage presence, and got everyone real amped. This will be the last time they play Slims - it's onwards and upwards for these guys. I'm definitely buying their album.

Yeay for Tuesdays.