voxtrot // neumo’s // 4 december 2007 (more [flickr])

I’m not really sure what to say about Voxtrot’s show at Neumo’s on Tuesday night. I love their self-titled LP to pieces and they appeared to be thoroughly committed to putting on a good show. Despite claims that his voice was failing, lead singer Ramesh Srivastava sang loudly and bounced around the stage enthusiastically. And for the first few songs, I was happily rocking out along with them while getting some photos. Then I settled down a little bit and noticed that the only thing I could hear was keyboards and vocals. Having listened to their album and EPs a lot, I was pretty sure that most songs featured more than a few few guitar parts. (Further evidence, their new video for “Firecracker” [virb]). In fact, most of the time, there were three people on stage making the typical guitar-playing movements, to little effect. It was a weird sensation, this business seeing people playing songs that you like a lot but needing to mentally fill in the gaps in the sound design.

Eventually, I tried to locate a place in the room where all of the musicians were audible and the best I could find was a spot near the back corner. Really, I’m not a sound or levels or mix snob. Usually, the only thing that I notice is if the volume’s loud enough to induce temporary hearing damage, but this seemed pretty obvious to me. Maybe it was a kink in the electricity, an equipment technicality (Voxtrot mentioned that they were using some of Division Day’s gear), or an issue with the new speakers at Neumo’s (which often seem to paradoxically make everything louder in the back). Either way, it was unfortunate, particularly for indie pop fans who were getting their first exposure to them after showing up for local favorites and sticking around for the headliners. By the end, things sounded a tiny bit better and quite a few stuck around through the set and even for Ramesh’s solo encore of “Future, Pt. 1″. As I said, I’m a fan of their records and I’ve been charmed by previous [mb] Voxtrot performances; so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt next time they roll through town.

tullycraft // neumo’s // 4 december 2007

Tullycraft, with all but one member in a sweater(vest) and musing about the topic of whether one of their songs was meant to be ironic or sincere and subsequently questioning that bit of onstage banter as perhaps being too meta, would have made one hell of a wizard rock band under different circumstances. Yes, I mean that as a compliment. And, no, it’s not just because one of their songs is about vampires wearing (or not wearing) makeup. They’re excessively happy, with superfast singing, joyful tambourining, evident onstage camraderie, and all of that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable watching experience. It also helps that their song about being twee is perhaps their least traditionally “twee” number.

math & physics club // neumo’s // 4 december 2007

When we arrived at Neumo’s Math & Physics Club had already started their set and there were plenty of people already lined up near the edge of the stage to hear them. There was a little bittersweet moment near the end when they said goodbye to Saundrah and played “Sixteen and Pretty”, but most of the short set was the usual laid back soft strummy happiness you’d expect, conjuring, for some reason in my mind, thoughts of fuzzy bunnies telling secrets around a campfire and roasting marshmallows.

I somehow missed Division Day. I went next door to MOE for a minute to get a drink between sets. A little gin and a conversation about annoyance at false Latinates stretched out longer than expected and all of a sudden an entire set disappeared.

Related posts:

1. Math and Physics Club and Tullycraft at the Crocodile
2. letter from ballard : boat + Math and Physics Club
3. tuesday agenda: voxtrot want to fix you like a hug
4. weekend agenda: grizzly bear, miho hatori, math & physics
5. in other blogs: math & physics, someone likes tourists, internet snooping