In the interest of getting these up, this one’s gonna be video/photo heavy. It’s probably best to let these three acts speak for themselves anyway - it was a great night of forward-thinking, truly independent music.
UUVVWWZ hit the stage as we were walking in. What followed was a solid 30+ minutes of exuberant, wild fun - equal parts spoken wordish sing-shouting, abstract guitar breaks, fuzzy bass, and stop-on-a-dime ass-shaking drums. This is a great example of what happens when a band enjoys what they’re doing and how quickly that will carry over to the audience. We all had to acknowledge the Record Bar was fairly empty this night - but UUVVWWZ’s performance was the catalyst that made everyone who did show up decide to gather around the stage and get involved instead of hanging back at the bar or moping around on the smoking patio outside. It’s safe to say if it weren’t for this Lincoln band’s spark, the night might not have turned out as great as it did.
The Show is the Rainbow, who was just finishing up another fairly lengthy tour alongside fellow Nebraskans UUVVWWZ, did his set from the floor in front of the stage, and had a video backdrop displaying all sorts of fun, crazy, and weird stuff. None of which, mind you, compared to what was going on with the act himself. A veritable one-man band, TSISR was quickly writhing around half-naked on the bar’s wooden floor, pausing only occasionally to tell jokes like a seasoned stand-up comic working hard to stay ahead of the audience’s grasp of what was going on. The fact that it worked on so many levels, or much less worked at all, is a testament to the effort Darren Keen, the man behind TSISR, puts into his work. It’s also worth mentioning we have Keen’s own label IT ARE GOOD to thank for being able to pick up UUVVWWZ’s self-titled album on vinyl (with cd-r included inside, thank you very much!). Here’s UU’s Teal Gardner showing off the EP cover she designed for The Show is the Rainbow:
It was hard to get good footage of him, which, going by his youtube page here, is nothing unusual. Keen will be back in the area at the Replay on July 26th. The video is one from Santa Cruz, and is followed by some pics we took:
The Mae Shi put on one of the most energetic sets we’d seen in quite awhile. I danced my ass off and would highly recommend that you see these guys when you get a chance. By dance, I mean skanked. This could have been the El Torreon several years ago, or some house/basement show somewhere just as easily. The lyrics were real. The guitars were fierce, the synths abused and the drums smashed. I’d heard a little bit of these guys a few years ago, probably the Terrorbird album, but it wasn’t enough to register at the time. Now, we’ll be taking every opportunity we get to see and support them when we can. We even mulled over going to Baltimore next week for the Whartscape festival - if you are in the area, and don’t go to this . . . well - there’s no good excuse, really. $40 for over a weekend’s worth of amazing underground artists . . . it sums up what the Mae Shi are about, really. This is the sort of band that is going to take the opportunity to challenge you, and do it for your own good.
The double vinyl HLLLYH looks great as well:
