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I still can’t believe that the 400 Bar is no longer around. Sure, it was a dive bar, sure it wasn’t the greatest venue in the world, but it had its moment. Seeing a show there was intimate, and you were always welcomed by the staff. Some of my very first shows were booked at the 400, and that’s a fact. So yeah, it’s hard to imagine that new, uprising bands will no longer play at the 400.
At that time, I had never heard of Brazos (aka Martin McNulty Crane), who opened the show. I can talk about them now, the Austin (now based in New York) band was touring, at the time, for their debut album Phosphorescent Blues.
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I arrived at the 400 Bar sometime after the doors opened, and the place was pretty dead. I thought there would only be a handful of people out that night, but thankfully as the night got longer, the place filled up.
Brazos warmed up the crowd around nine. What I liked about them is that they have a lot of lyrics in their song. The highlight of their set is the Adrienne Rich poem turned into song. I didn't recall the title, but I'm sure it had "Africa" in the lyrics.
Personally, I thought the best song on their setlist is "Feeding Frenzy", featuring these lyrics "We're interlocking, we're interlocking. It's a bitter conflict, this staring contest."
In contrast to the lyrics-thing, White Denim are more like crazy pyschedelic, garagey, experimental rock 'n roll - with minimal lyrics. Whatever singer James Petralli spouted out, it didn't matter because you were so in awe of his amazing guitar-playing ability. You can just tell the guy is a rock god, the way his fingers frantically moved up and down the neck of the guitar.
I reckon these Austin lads don't care so much to slow down or stop, so all their songs are medleys - one song flow into the next, and pretty soon about six songs have passed before they have to take a breather.
If you like your music loud, loud, and loud, White Denim is the band for you. Be sure to bring earplugs.
White Denim's latest album is called Fits and is available now at their record label, Downtown Music, or amazon.
At that time, I had never heard of Brazos (aka Martin McNulty Crane), who opened the show. I can talk about them now, the Austin (now based in New York) band was touring, at the time, for their debut album Phosphorescent Blues.
>>>
I arrived at the 400 Bar sometime after the doors opened, and the place was pretty dead. I thought there would only be a handful of people out that night, but thankfully as the night got longer, the place filled up.
Brazos
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Personally, I thought the best song on their setlist is "Feeding Frenzy", featuring these lyrics "We're interlocking, we're interlocking. It's a bitter conflict, this staring contest."
In contrast to the lyrics-thing, White Denim are more like crazy pyschedelic, garagey, experimental rock 'n roll - with minimal lyrics. Whatever singer James Petralli spouted out, it didn't matter because you were so in awe of his amazing guitar-playing ability. You can just tell the guy is a rock god, the way his fingers frantically moved up and down the neck of the guitar.
I reckon these Austin lads don't care so much to slow down or stop, so all their songs are medleys - one song flow into the next, and pretty soon about six songs have passed before they have to take a breather.
If you like your music loud, loud, and loud, White Denim is the band for you. Be sure to bring earplugs.
White Denim's latest album is called Fits and is available now at their record label, Downtown Music, or amazon.
White Denim at 400 Bar, Minneapolis (04 Nov 2009) |
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