On Thursday, I saw the Speakers (myspace) with Ash Reiter at the Hemlock. The Speakers are Brian Miller of ipickmynose local fav Lightning Bug Situation along with Peter Musselman. Last of the Blacksmiths was also on the bill, but I wasn’t their for their set.

Ash Reiter was first up. It’s on days like Thursday where the Hemlock feels like the most intimate venue possible. It’s a small place and it wasn’t entirely full, so it felt like the artist was playing just for you. Ash played guitar and sang and her band members played upright bass and jazzy arch-top guitar. She sings a timeless sort of song, hearkening back to 40s and 50s jazz standards. Her band set up (the upright bass and arch-top guitar) and their style (the guitar especially followed jazzy patterns that the jazzers might call “comping”) added to this feel. She played a nice set.

I’d been looking forward to seeing Lightning Bug Situation/ the Speakers for a while, having loved A Leaf; a Stream and being curious how it would translate live. It was just Peter and Brian on stage, Brian on guitar and Peter mostly on accordion. However, Peter started on the “suitcase of mystery” (a suitcase that contains some electronics such that the sound changes as you move, hit and drop it) and Brian on effects. I can’t say this is the best way to draw in the masses, but it was pretty interesting. They played well, but a few times they were really getting into something gorgeous (like their lovely live rendition of the Lightning Bug Situation song “Message to Myself after Franny was Born”), there was a sustained squeal of feedback. I’m talking 15 or 30 seconds of feedback from the mic. It ground the song to a stop (what else could they do?) and broke the mood. (They did manage to pull off a great version of the LBS song “Topher’s Song” without interruption, though.)

I decided I just need to see them again and hopefully hear a technically better functioning set.

You can see a few more photos at my photo album.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 23rd, 2008 at 12:46 pm Posted by adrian in SF bay area, live review, photos. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.