We Are Scientists Setlist
Tour Dates
10/10/14 Madison, WI The Sett
10/12/14 New York, NY Various Venues 10/15/14 Newport, KY Revival Room 10/16/14 Louisville, KY Zanzabar Read More
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"The Spatter Analysis Tour", with co-headliner Surfer Blood and We Are Scientists, just came through St Paul's Turf Club last night.
The Turf Club closed for the Summer for renovations, and this was the first time we had time to re-visit the venue. What I can report that it is indeed cleaner. The bar now has a new flooring, fresh paint (raised walls), a much nicer bathroom, and most importantly: new sound speakers, new lighting, and a raised/extended stage. They also got rid of the black drapes in the background (replaced it with a large painting of race horses) and also removed the secondary "minor" stage. All in all, it is the same old Turf Club, just improved.
Starting the Splatter show was Eternal Summers, a lo-fi/garage rock band from Virginia. The trio, lead by singer/guitarist Nicole Yun, is touring in support of their third studio album The Drop Beneath, out now on Kanine Records.
The band previously appeared in Minneapolis last year, but it was their first time in St Paul last night.
Their 40-min set was filled with high energy guitar-driven fuzz, including a few tracks, "Gouge" and "Never Enough", from their latest record.
Next up was co-headliner Surfer Blood, who, if you recall, the last time they were in Minneapolis, singer John Pitts said it was their "seventh time". From my understanding, I thought he said it was Surfer Blood's first time in St Paul... or at the very least, their first time at the Turf Club.
Surfer Blood is always fun to see live. If you've never seen them before, wait until you see them playing music with their teeth (for "Drinking Problem"). I've seen many bands, but Surfer Blood is the only one that does the teeth-playing-guitar thing.
For "Take It Easy", they invited singer Keith Murray on stage to help them jam, as John Pitts takes his singing mic into the audience.
Surfer Blood is, as always, tight on their nearly 55-minute set... thanks to many years as a touring band. The only problem they had was a false start for "Swim", but they quickly recovered and blasted the song as soon as they got their timing back.
Before I tell you about We Are Scientists at the Turf Club, let me tell you the first time I heard about them. It was 2006 and we were driving to Wisconsin, leaving from St Paul (!) and a friend had their major label debut album With Love and Squalor in her car. I'd never heard of them, but as soon as we put in the CD, I was already singing along with their songs. That's right, I have never heard of them before hearing that album for the first time.
So obviously, all the songs on their set from With Love and Squalor were favorites ("Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt", "The Great Escape", etc). I also got the impression that the other fans in the audience also felt the same way, based on their dance moves.
Also, last night was a very special night for We Are Scientists, as it was Keith's birthday. They joke around on stage a lot. Clearly the band don't take themselves too seriously, but what can you expect from a band ironically called We Are Scientist.
For example, they joked that "Make It Easy" was a cover of the Eagles' "Take It Easy", but their lawyers sent a cease and desist letter. So they changed the tune and the name to "Make It Easy". A complete lie, of course, but still fun to hear them tell that story.
With "I Don't Bite", Surfer Blood's guitarist and bassist was invited to jam, a favor returned from Keith's earlier stage invasion. You can tell that the two bands are both friends and fans of each other.
The highlight of their show was for their epic outro of the show, starting with "The Great Escape" and "After Hours" (which they incorporated "Eternal Summers" into a lyric from the song). That was supposed to be the last song on their set, but the band continued to medley in "It's a Hit", plus various song jams. If they ended the show, that would have been just fine, but since it was Keith's birthday, they came back with long instrumental jam, followed by "This Scene Is Dead".
If you are a fan of both bands, seeing them live on this Spatter Analysis tour is a no-brainer. While you're at it, pick up their exclusive tour 7" with sleeve artwork and tour poster for $10.
The Turf Club closed for the Summer for renovations, and this was the first time we had time to re-visit the venue. What I can report that it is indeed cleaner. The bar now has a new flooring, fresh paint (raised walls), a much nicer bathroom, and most importantly: new sound speakers, new lighting, and a raised/extended stage. They also got rid of the black drapes in the background (replaced it with a large painting of race horses) and also removed the secondary "minor" stage. All in all, it is the same old Turf Club, just improved.
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Eternal Summers
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The band previously appeared in Minneapolis last year, but it was their first time in St Paul last night.
Their 40-min set was filled with high energy guitar-driven fuzz, including a few tracks, "Gouge" and "Never Enough", from their latest record.
|
Surfer Blood
|
Surfer Blood is always fun to see live. If you've never seen them before, wait until you see them playing music with their teeth (for "Drinking Problem"). I've seen many bands, but Surfer Blood is the only one that does the teeth-playing-guitar thing.
For "Take It Easy", they invited singer Keith Murray on stage to help them jam, as John Pitts takes his singing mic into the audience.
Surfer Blood is, as always, tight on their nearly 55-minute set... thanks to many years as a touring band. The only problem they had was a false start for "Swim", but they quickly recovered and blasted the song as soon as they got their timing back.
Before I tell you about We Are Scientists at the Turf Club, let me tell you the first time I heard about them. It was 2006 and we were driving to Wisconsin, leaving from St Paul (!) and a friend had their major label debut album With Love and Squalor in her car. I'd never heard of them, but as soon as we put in the CD, I was already singing along with their songs. That's right, I have never heard of them before hearing that album for the first time.
So obviously, all the songs on their set from With Love and Squalor were favorites ("Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt", "The Great Escape", etc). I also got the impression that the other fans in the audience also felt the same way, based on their dance moves.
Also, last night was a very special night for We Are Scientists, as it was Keith's birthday. They joke around on stage a lot. Clearly the band don't take themselves too seriously, but what can you expect from a band ironically called We Are Scientist.
For example, they joked that "Make It Easy" was a cover of the Eagles' "Take It Easy", but their lawyers sent a cease and desist letter. So they changed the tune and the name to "Make It Easy". A complete lie, of course, but still fun to hear them tell that story.
With "I Don't Bite", Surfer Blood's guitarist and bassist was invited to jam, a favor returned from Keith's earlier stage invasion. You can tell that the two bands are both friends and fans of each other.
The highlight of their show was for their epic outro of the show, starting with "The Great Escape" and "After Hours" (which they incorporated "Eternal Summers" into a lyric from the song). That was supposed to be the last song on their set, but the band continued to medley in "It's a Hit", plus various song jams. If they ended the show, that would have been just fine, but since it was Keith's birthday, they came back with long instrumental jam, followed by "This Scene Is Dead".
If you are a fan of both bands, seeing them live on this Spatter Analysis tour is a no-brainer. While you're at it, pick up their exclusive tour 7" with sleeve artwork and tour poster for $10.
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We Are Scientists at Turf Club, St Paul (09 Oct 2014) |
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