The other good bill I saw this past weekend was Or, the Whale (myspace) with Birds & Batteries (myspace) at the Great American Music Hall. I had wanted to see Social Studies who opened the show, but I arrive too late.

I came in right before Birds & Batteries went on. I had a few minutes to talk to Dave of the Special Goodbyes (and of Blammos) and Tim Marcus, who plays sweet pedal steel with Or, the Whale as well as bass in Blammos and (also bass?) with Dave in the Special Goodbyes. That guy gets around. I also found Christian and Ben of the Bay Bridged. It’s always good running into those guys.

Anyway, I’d heard a little of Birds & Batteries before the show, but not much. Their set up is sort of a standard rock band (bass, guitar, drums, keyboards) but their sound has straight-up rock and folk elements in addition to electronic elements which come in through the keyboards and a sampler with glitchy beats and things. They played an enjoyable set and I think I’ll have to look into them more. They have a bunch of mp3s up on their website.

I’ve been raving about Or, the Whale for a while and I was excited to see them live. I’m always disappointed when I love a band’s album and I go to see them only for them to not put on a good show. This was, fortunately, not one of those cases.

They had just gotten back from tour including some pretty bad sounding troubles (well, mainly their van caught fire 3 hours into the tour). I like see a band as they arrive home after a big tour. They’re always happy to be back and put on a good show.

Or, the Whale had Alex on acoustic rhythm guitar, banjo and mostly lead vocals; Matt on electric guitar and vocals; Lindsay on tambourine (and other percussion) and vocals; Julie on keys (and accordion) and vocals (also in Birds & Batteries!); Justin on bass; Jesse on drums; Tim on pedal steel.

They came onto the stage to much excitement from the audience. In addition to the appreciative music lovers, there seemed to be a good number of family, friends and significant others in the crowd, this being their big Great American Music Hall show at the end of their first big tour. They launched into the music and I had a smile on my face from minute one.

They played a really solid set of songs from their album and new songs, ending with “Fight Song” and “Call and Response”, which, given the sombre nature of the song seems like an odd one to be their “hit single” but I was enjoying it with everyone else. There was just a one stripped-down song (which I can’t remember now!) for an encore and that was it. My only complaint is pretty trivial: they didn’t play one of my favorite songs: “Prayer for the Road.”

I’d recommend seeing them; they’re playing again in a few weeks with Birds and Batteries again and they have plenty of other dates posted on their myspace including ones with some other good bands.

Sep 14 2007 9:00P Elbo Room with Low Red Land, Birds & Batteries, and Appomattox

View my entire photo album.

As I mentioned there were a couple good bills this weekend. Friday’s was The Morning Benders (myspace) and Oh No! Oh My! (myspace) at the Bottom of the Hill. Au Revoir Simone headlined the show. Much to my surprise, it was sold out by the time I got there, around 9:50pm (for a 10pm show). It was a good bill and luckily I had bought my ticket already.

The Morning Benders, out of Oakland/ Berkeley, were up first. I’ve seen/ talked about them a lot. They did a set with a mix of new and old tunes. They’ve been in the studio so they have some new tunes and arrangement they’re playing. Chris sang his heart out like always and the whole band played well. I really enjoy their set, even after seeing them a few times in the last few months. The new tunes and arrangements show some good growth by the band.

Oh No! Oh My! went on after a short break. I’d never seen them before but I was a little anxious. I’d enjoyed their album going back to when they were selling the pre-release version for $1.50 but I felt like they might not be able bring that to the live setting well. Turns out I had no reason for anxiety.

It turns out that it was their 100th show and while I find it a bit odd that they kept track of that, I’m always for reasons for a band to bring it a bit more than usual. Their set up was always in flux with the main singer playing both guitar and bass, the keyboardist also playing guitar, bass, glockenspiel and melodica, the bass player playing guitar (I think) and the drummer playing keyboards while drumming, Dave Douglas-style. They put a lot of energy into their set and kept my attention. I liked the live versions of songs I knew (their album) and liked most of the songs I didn’t yet know (the EP and newer songs).

I ended up picking up their EP Between the Devil and the Sea. “Party Punch” along with “Oh Be One” are the highlights for me. It’s starts as an strummy upbeat folk number but morphs into pure pop fun.

Oh No Oh My - Party Punch (mp3)

I stuck around for a little of Au Revoir Simone and it just wasn’t my thing.

On thing I noticed about this show was lots of x’s on people’s hands, both in the audience and on stage. Two people each from Oh No! and Morning Benders appear to be under 21 and there were some audience members that appeared to be significantly under 21. Where do you hear about Oh No! Oh My! in high school? The Internet, I guess.

A couple more photos of each band after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »