pacificlectic : concert reviews & eclectic music news

Rarely do elements of the Cincinnati music scene tromp through Oregon.  I got the opportunity to see Bad Veins about 5 weeks ago up in Portland, and now they’re back through Oregon, but this time in my lovely city of Eugene.  They received a nice write-up in the 10/15/09 Eugene Weekly, too…

We showed up late but before anyone started yet; so we moseyed over to One Cup for some delicious coffee.  On the way back to Sam Bond’s, we could hear the opener (Blue Horns from Portland) blaring through the door & windows… and we were about 2 blocks away.  “Oh, crap, I forgot my earplugs!”  Blue Horns were a good rock band.  Really loud, though (and I don’t think it was their fault).  They had a nice vibe, but it was hard to tell what the guy was singing most of the time.  Listening to them on MySpace now, they’re kinda jangly & bouncy indie rock.  Maybe I should write a letter to SB’s soundguy to turn it down from 17 to 11.  I mean, come on…  11 is enough.

Bad Veins got all set up and ready to go by 11pm… based on the poster (above), they seem to be the main band for this Daytrotter sponsored tour (I ♥ Daytrotter), yet they went on before The Subjects.  This was fine with me.  Nothing against The Subjects, but I was done after BV’s set.  Tired after a long week’s work and ears practically in tears.

Sebastien and Benjamin rocked us out for about a half hour.  As they like to say in the industry, Sebastien was “killing the fuck out of his drums.”  OK, maybe they don’t say that in the “industry.”  He was doing it regardless.  Maybe his drums slept with his girlfriend or ate the last breakfast burrito… or… or… both.  Regardless, he was going nuts. :)

After about the first song, we moved outside to help shelter our ears (again, Mr. Soundman… 11 is loud enough).  I was able to find a good spot on SB’s patio and watch through the window.  No pictures this show, as I rarely get any good shots at Sam Bond’s (even with a good camera).  For recent Bad Veins concert photos, check my last month’s review (click picture below)…

Setlist:

• Found
• Gold and Warm
• Crosseyed
• Afraid
• Dry Out
• Falling Tide
• The Lie

Their set was identical to the time prior, and my wife made a good comment… “well, they use that reel-to-reel so they have to keep things in the same order.”  Duh on my part.  Anyway, it was still a really good set, despite the extreme loudness of it all.  I think Sam Bond’s is not the place to see rock music (prior to this, I’ve only seen Skerik/ jazz, Talkdemonic/ acoustic post-rock, and various singer-songwriters).  Hopefully The Subjects got better sound treatment.

The Appropriate Linkage:

• Bad Veins Official Webpage
• Bad Veins on MySpace
• Blue Horns on MySpace
• The Subjects on MySpace
  
• Sam Bond’s Garage
  

~Dan – np: Foo Fighters – In Your Honor