Maybe My Opinion was influenced by Shezilla, But

Well its February (Feb are you airy?) 2006 and that means time to resume attendance at live music events and perhaps report back to you, the interweb, on the state of live music in our nation's capitol. Its been a while, probably since I saw Crooked Fingers around this time last year (when it was really just Eric and no band), so I think its about time to resume my progress towards total deafness in my left ear. The 2006 DC area calendar has kicked off with Death Vessel, His Name is Alive, and Low -- but its just getting underway, we have Magnolia Electric Co, Destroyer, David Bazan, Vic Chesnutt, Mark Eitzel, and the Silver Jews on our plate for the next couple months, which should keep the wife and I busy.

Back to Saturday: Jess and I went for Low, but left most impressed with His Name is Alive, who I'd never heard before (actually, we intended to go see RJD2, but that didn't work out because it sold out). His Name is Alive is basically the project of one Warren Defever plus whoever is with him at the time (there are various semi-permanent band members). In the ten or so years they've been around, they've compiled quite the extensive discography. I'm a bit hard pressed to describe their sound, because it was quite eclectic, but I suppose as a really distant reference point I could name Broken Social Scene; less because they sound alike than because they seem to share a similar taste for deconstructed pop songs bordered by sound collages that stradle the line between chaotic and beautiful. I'm sure its not for everyone (as can be safely deduced from the sales of both band's albums), but I have to admit that I have a real soft spot for that stuff. Plus there was a really great conch solo. The most unfortunate points were (1) the presence of Shezilla, a big-boned (and in this case, I use this as a description, not a euphemism for fat)
behemoth of a woman who insisted on necking with her equally unattractive boyfriend beside us and (2) the amount of alcohol that Warren claimed to have consumed. I believed Warren, since it seemed that he could barely remember what song they were playing, much less what part of it he was supposed to be playing.

I was a bit tired for Low; if you're familiar with them, you'll understand how that can be a bit of a problem. I'm not sure how I felt about it in the end: the music was great, but it seemed like Alan Sparhawk (the singer/songwriter/guitarist) was just climbing back from deep depression and could easily slip back in, which isn't the most pleasant thing to watch. Still, it seems that a lot of the best music comes out of the hardest times for the musicians, and I think Low's latest album may be a good example of that. I was glad that I was able to church it yesterday, though.