hi everybody. most of you and almost every person
on this planet missed an incredible gig last night.
the crowd was rather sparse for spine + hush, there
were about 20 people at the khyber cafe. but that
was because spine returned from montreal just two
days before the gig, so it wasn't promoted at all.
the occasion was the release of spine's brand new
8-song cassette _hot, handsome, and a honey to handle_.
they invited this band hush to be their opener. i'd
never seen them before -- i guess they've done a
couple of cafe ole gigs.
hush are total grunge. the lead singer does that
patented vedder/weiland/cornell style of singing
that usually drives me nuts (see past comments
about resin). but hush are, let me say, quite
atypical in other ways. their female bassist
and male lead guitarist look like refugees from
superpavementchunkadoh slackerville who accidently
got trapped in a seattle band and can't find their
way out. and the guitarist can do cool things
with feedback. :-) about ten teenage boys were
moshing like crazy, and the bassist got down off
the stage and danced with them while she played.
then she sat down on the floor and played while
they all moshed around her. it was hilarious.
anyways, hush are a tight, entertaining band
and you should definitely catch them if you like
a shot of grunge espresso in your musical coffee
from time to time. oh by the way, "platonic
fuck", that was a song that they did.
anyways, back to the post-nirvana universe and
on to the main course, which was spine. this
band is so incredible, i can't believe that
they aren't playing the pop explosion. they
were looser and more comfortable than we've
ever seen them, but the music was really really
tight. almost every song was the best version
i've ever heard them do. they did every one
of the eight songs on their tape, plus two
new ones and that infamous cover.
i was filled with a sense of irony as i
watched this incredible stage performance
with so few people in the building. everyone
there knew how great the gig was. since
the audience was so sparse, they thought
they could get away without an encore, but
we refused. :-) they were enthusiastically
encouraged back on stage, and performed
"100 Failures" and then david said "you know,
we're so full of shit. we keep saying we're
not going to do this song anymore... and then
(lead guitarist) jason starts doing it..."
and then they launched into a killer version
of the beegees' "stayin' alive." i think
it is only with spine that that song reaches
its true potential. :-)
so spine sold 6 copies of their new tape at
the gig... another 49,994 and it's a gold
record... :-)
i would have to say that last night's gig,
along with the pest gig earlier this year,
is one of the two best gigs i've ever seen
at the khyber. and in terms of halifax
gigs this year, it rates up there with
horseshoes' performance at the ckdu benefit
in february.
in the next couple of days i'll get around
to reviewing the tape for y'all.
james
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
_James R. Covey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>_ sloan net is a discussion of the
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